En høstmand, der svinger en le, bagvendt. 1743 - 1809

Nicolai Abildgaard created this ink drawing of a harvestman with a scythe in Denmark sometime between 1760 and 1800. While seemingly a simple pastoral scene, it’s worth noting that Abildgaard was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and would have been deeply involved in the Neoclassical movement that looked to antiquity for its ideals of order and civic virtue. The figure's idealized physique and classical garb, combined with the scythe, an attribute of Chronos, god of time, invite us to consider how the painting might comment on the social structures of its time. Is it an allegory about the natural order of society? Is Abildgaard using the idealized male nude to elevate agricultural labour? These are questions that art historians can address using a variety of resources. We might look to the artist’s other works for clues, or read accounts of the art world at the time, or even study the history of agricultural practices in Denmark to better understand the image’s cultural significance.