Udsigt fra Villa Tusculana 1861

Editor: This is "Udsigt fra Villa Tusculana" by C.A. Kølle, made in 1861 using pencil as the medium. It’s currently held at the SMK in Copenhagen. I find the composition to be rather intriguing with that wall taking up space. What do you make of this work? Curator: Well, what immediately strikes me is the framing. The wall and foliage almost act as theatrical curtains, staging this vista of the Roman campagna for the viewer. Do you think that is purely representational, or does that framing tell us something about how Kølle wanted his audience to experience this site? Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way, more like a division between near and far. But how would the framing affect the experience, historically speaking? Curator: In the mid-19th century, there was a surge in landscape art as artists explored national identities and their relationships with nature. However, in Italy, the landscape held layers of classical history, creating a specific set of cultural expectations for the public and the art world. Does Kølle subvert these or perhaps even re-invent them by giving the viewer such a carefully mediated "prospect"? Editor: That's interesting because Romanticism plays with nature's sublimity, and this scene feels so…composed. Not untamed at all. Was there a particular political dimension to these carefully framed Italian scenes? Curator: Certainly. Italian landscapes were often tied to notions of grand tourism and the aristocratic experience. Artists and patrons participated in forming particular cultural perceptions. Editor: It feels much more understandable when seen through a historical lens. I appreciate how you pointed out the connection between landscape and power. Curator: Indeed. Sometimes what's included in the image, is as critical as what is consciously excluded, and who is included/excluded in that cultural representation is very important.