Artwork
Antikke ruiner omgivet af træer, i forgrunden en hyrde og nogle geder
Antikke ruiner omgivet af træer, i forgrunden en hyrde og nogle geder is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Johan Edvard Mandelberg. It dates from 1765 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a pastoral scene set among ancient ruins overgrown by trees, with a shepherd and several goats occupying the foreground.
The painting depicts a pastoral scene set among ancient ruins overgrown by trees, with a shepherd and several goats occupying the foreground. The juxtaposition of crumbling classical architecture with rustic rural life evokes the 18th-century taste for the picturesque, in which the contemplation of decay was paired with the timeless rhythms of pastoral existence. The shepherd and goats introduce a living, everyday element that contrasts with the silent permanence of the ruins, suggesting a meditation on the passage of time and the endurance of nature over human construction.
By framing the remains of antiquity within a wooded, inhabited landscape, the work aligns with a tradition that used shepherd figures to evoke Arcadian ideals and to humanize the grandeur of classical heritage.
The iconography draws on established conventions of pastoral landscape painting, where ruins function as a reminder of vanished civilizations while shepherds and flocks symbolize continuity, simplicity, and harmony with nature. Together, these motifs give the composition a reflective character, inviting the viewer to consider the relationship between cultural memory and the natural world.
Technique & Style
Created in 1765, Antikke ruiner omgivet af træer, i forgrunden en hyrde og nogle geder is an oil painting executed on a canvas support. The work depicts a landscape scene featuring ancient ruins, trees, a shepherd, and goats in the foreground. The physical dimensions of the painting are 375 cm in height and 470 cm in width, indicating a monumental scale for the genre.
As an oil-on-canvas piece from the mid-eighteenth century, the medium allows for the detailed rendering of the architectural and natural elements described in the composition.
History & Provenance
The painting titled Antikke ruiner omgivet af træer, i forgrunden en hyrde og nogle geder was created by Johan Edvard Mandelberg in 1765. Executed in oil paint on canvas, the work depicts ancient ruins surrounded by trees, with a shepherd and goats in the foreground. The creation date is established as 1765, with the specific inception recorded as January 1 of that year. Currently, the artwork is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
The painting Antikke ruiner omgivet af træer, i forgrunden en hyrde og nogle geder is held by the Statens Museum for Kunst. The source material does not provide a specific inventory or accession number for this work. Furthermore, the available documentation contains no information regarding any past or future exhibitions featuring this piece.
Legacy
The painting has shaped later landscape traditions through its romanticized classical ruins and pastoral details, influencing subsequent generations of European landscape painters who adopted similar motifs of antiquity merged with nature. Its composition of ancient remains framed by trees and a shepherd with goats became a model for idealized rural scenes in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The work remains on view at Statens Museum for Kunst where it is part of the permanent collection and continues to inform scholarly studies of Nordic romanticism.
Overview
Johan Edvard Mandelberg, a Swedish‑born artist who worked in Denmark, completed this oil painting in 1765. Executed in the Rococo idiom, the work presents a tranquil woodland setting where a shepherd in a red coat watches three goats amid the remnants of an ancient stone structure. The composition is part of the collection of Statens Museum for Kunst.
Artist & collection
Artist
Johan Edvard Mandelberg (22 January 1730 – 8 January 1786), Swedish-born painter living in Denmark, was born at sea during a voyage between Stockholm and Livland, Sweden.
Nymphs in a Grotto
Hyrdescene
Landscape with a Fountain
Cattle at the waterhole
Mercury and Argus
Mercury and Argus
Arcadian landscape
Landscape with figures at the foot of a fountain
The Judgment of Paris
Campagna-Landschaft
Ruins in a Rocky Landscape- Antikke ruiner omgivet af træer, i forgrunden en hyrde og nogle geder
