Valdemar Hjartvar Købke (1813–1893), the Artist's Brother  1838

This portrait of Købke’s younger brother in his seaman’s uniform was painted soon before the artist left Copenhagen for a sojourn in Italy. It is an incisive likeness, remarkable for its psychological intensity. Købke, who is widely regarded as the greatest Danish painter to emerge from the Copenhagen Academy of Fine Arts, brought a distinctive clarity and luminosity to th...