Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg

Eckersberg was the most successful and influential painter in Denmark in the first half of the 19th century. As a teacher he formed the sensibilities of an entire generation of landscape painters, including his best known pupil Christen Købke.

Eckersberg trained at the Copenhagen Academy and in Paris under J.-L. David. After a three-year stay in Rome (1813-16) he returned to Copenhagen to become a professor at the Academy, a post he held until his death. During his long career he painted numerous portraits, landscapes and marine subjects, as well as a range of historical and mythological subjects.