View from the Loft of the Grain Store at the Bakery in the Citadel of Copenhagen

The artist’s sister, Cecilie Margrethe, is heading up the walkway to the loft of the granary. She is completely engrossed in her knitting. Christen Købke has made her the focal point of the scene, positioned right in the middle of the gate opening. Behind her we have a view of what looks to be unspoilt rural surroundings, but in fact the scene is set at the Citadel in Copenhagen. Købke’s father was a baker there, and the family lived in a flat under the grain store. Nineteenth-century art is rich in window motifs that express a longing for another, larger world. In Købke’s art, however, one senses that the immediate world is enough in itself. He notices the weeds that grow in the cracks outside the gate, and he has an eye for the many exquisite shades of red and green found in leaves, grass and woodwork. The serene calm and harmony seem to reflect the period’s prevailing view of the world as being borne alof by divine reason and order (50 Favorites in the SMK Collection).