Thorvaldsen, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Martinus Rørbye no. 106 (here listed measuring 40,5×33 cm).

Exhibited: Kunstforeningen, “Fortegnelse over M. Rørbyes arbejder”, 1905 no. 69 (here listed measuring 40,5×33 cm).

Literature: Thorvaldsens Museum, exhibition catalogue, “Martinus Rørbye 1803–1848”, 1981, mentioned p. 112.

Øregaard Museum and Skovgaard Museet, Nivaagaards Malerisamling and Ribe Kunstmuseum, exhibition catalogue, “Martinus Rørbye. Det nære og det fjerne”, 2014–2015, mentioned p. 172–173.

Provenance: Vicar Holm, Gladsaxe (1905).

During his first major journey abroad from 1834 to 1837, Rørbye stayed on the Italian island of Procida, which is situated off Naples between Cap Miseno and the island of Ischia, from 20 June to 3 July 1835. In his diary he writes on the day he arrives to the island (in Danish): “today I got a good room for myself with a balcony and a lovely view of the sea, it seems that I am with honest people.” Four painted studies from his stay at Procida are known, and this painting is one of them. It is probably from the balcony in front of his room, mentioned in the above quotation from his diary. Rørbye repeated this motif twice, respectively in 1840 (ARoS, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, no. 193 in the Catalogue Raisonné) and in 1841 with figures (private collection, no. 194 in the Catalogue Raisonné).

The motif is also known from a painting by Thomas Fearnley, who was on Procida three years earlier in 1832. He has depicted the same loggia with terracotta flower pots in the corner and the view of the sea, but without Rørbye's picturesque details such as the jar balancing on the balcony wall towards the sea, garlic vines, lemons, etc.