En død hest køres bort på en æselkærre 1846

"En død hest køres bort på en æselkærre" (A dead horse is being transported on a donkey cart) is a watercolor drawing by Johan Thomas Lundbye, created in 1846. This piece, now housed at the SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst, showcases Lundbye's talent for capturing the mundane moments of rural Danish life. The drawing's intimate scale, measuring only 144 mm x 134 mm, brings the viewer close to the scene, emphasizing the somber nature of the subject matter. The detail in the donkey cart and the way the horse's body lies across the cart, with the man's quiet posture, speaks to the realities of 19th-century rural life and Lundbye's ability to portray it with a sensitivity that foreshadows the poignant realism of later Danish art.