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

Christen Købke created the oil painting View from the Loft of the Grain Store at the Bakery in the Citadel of Copenhagen in 1831. Executed on canvas, the work measures 51.7 cm in height and 43 cm in width. The painting depicts an interior scene featuring a woman, a child, stairs, and a door, with views of the Kastellet and a tree visible through the opening.

It is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. The work was later included in the exhibition L'Âge d'or de la peinture danoise (1801-1864).

The painting is housed in the collection of Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it is recorded as part of the museum’s holdings of Danish Golden Age works. Its presence in the museum’s catalogue is documented alongside details of its creation, though a specific accession number is not provided in the available records. The work was included in the exhibition L’Âge d’or de la peinture danoise, which highlighted Danish painting from 1801 to 1864, thereby bringing public attention to this early piece by Christen Købke.

Christen Købke’s 1831 oil painting View from the Loft of the Grain Store at the Bakery in the Citadel of Copenhagen presents a quiet interior scene framed by the historic Kastellet fortifications. A woman in a red dress and apron stands on a wooden porch, holding a string, while light streams through an open doorway onto a green courtyard. The composition captures a brief pause in everyday activity within the citadel’s urban fabric.

Kastellet, a well‑preserved star‑shaped fortification in Copenhagen, served both defensive and civilian functions in the early 19th century. Købke’s choice to depict a grain store’s loft within this setting underscores the integration of everyday commerce and military infrastructure, offering insight into the mixed uses of the citadel during that period.