Artwork
Ruins in the Roman Campagna

Ruins in the Roman Campagna is an oil painting by the Plein Air artist Janus la Cour. It dates from 1871 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work belongs to the landscape genre and is rendered in oil on canvas, measuring 69.
Ruins in the Roman Campagna is a landscape painting by Janus la Cour that depicts architectural ruins set within the Roman Campagna, the countryside surrounding Rome. The work belongs to the landscape genre and is rendered in oil on canvas, measuring 69.5 by 105.5 cm. The subject of decaying classical structures in the Roman countryside was a recurring theme in nineteenth-century European landscape painting, where artists used the remnants of antiquity to evoke the passage of time, the grandeur of past civilizations, and the contemplative beauty of nature reclaiming human-made monuments. By focusing on ruins rather than inhabited or monumental scenes, la Cour aligns the painting with this tradition of melancholic, historically resonant landscape imagery.
The painting is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
Technique & Style
Created in 1871, Ruins in the Roman Campagna is an oil painting executed on a canvas support. The work measures 69.5 cm in height and 105.5 cm in width. As a landscape painting within the genre of the Roman Campagna, the artist employs oil paint to depict architectural ruins.
The handling of the medium facilitates the representation of the specific subject matter, aligning with the formal qualities of 19th-century landscape traditions.
History & Provenance
Ruins in the Roman Campagna was completed in 1871 by Janus la Cour, who rendered the scene in oil on canvas. The painting is recorded as having been created that year, and it has been part of the holdings of the Statens Museum for Kunst since at least the time of its acquisition by the museum. The sources do not mention any earlier owners, patrons, or a specific commission; the work’s provenance therefore begins with its entry into the museum’s collection, where it continues to be displayed as a landscape of Roman ruins.
Janus la Cour's 1871 landscape painting, Ruins in the Roman Campagna, is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst. The work is executed in oil on canvas and measures 69.5 cm in height by 105.5 cm in width. The provided sources identify the museum as the current location and holder of the artwork but do not list a specific inventory or accession number. Furthermore, the available documentation contains no information regarding a history of exhibitions for this piece.
Overview
Ruins in the Roman Campagna is an 1871 oil painting by Danish artist Janus la Cour, associated with the Eckersberg school. The work captures a landscape of ancient ruins in the Roman countryside.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Janus Andreas Bartholin la Cour (5 September 1837 – 13 October 1909) was a Danish painter who is remembered for his landscapes painted in the classical style of the Eckersberg school.


















