Rejsedagbog 1845

This is a page from the travel journal of Johan Thomas Lundbye, dating from the 1840s. Lundbye was a Danish Golden Age painter, and his journals offer a fascinating insight into the life of an artist in 19th-century Europe. Here, we see not sketches, but a written account of his travels, alongside what appears to be a meticulous record of his expenses. The text is in Danish, reflecting Lundbye’s national identity at a time when Denmark was asserting its cultural distinctiveness. Notice the careful handwriting, indicative of the value placed on literacy and record-keeping in bourgeois society. Lundbye's notes on travel expenses can tell us a lot about the economics of being an artist at this time. For art historians, sources like these are invaluable. They allow us to move beyond the finished artwork and understand the day-to-day realities that shaped its creation. By studying such documents, we gain a richer understanding of the social conditions that made Lundbye’s art possible.