Cecrops døtre afslører Minervas hemmeligheder 1814

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg made this drawing, Cecrops' Daughters Discover Minerva's Secret, in 1836. In it, we see three women surrounding a baby in a basket; this scene is taken from Greek mythology. The daughters of Cecrops were entrusted with a box containing Erichthonius, who was half-human and half-snake, with the strict instruction never to open it. Driven by curiosity, two of the sisters opened the box and were punished with madness. Eckersberg's artistic life was shaped by his role as a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. His work aimed to promote the idea of 'truth to nature,' advocating for direct observation and realistic depictions. By studying artists' source material, we can trace the institutional history of art instruction. This process reveals how artistic conventions and academic ideals influenced artists. Eckersberg's drawing, therefore, serves as a window into understanding the dynamics between artistic creation, academic standards, and cultural narratives in 19th-century Denmark.