ECKERSBERG, Christoffer Wilhelm
(b. 1783, Blakrog, d. 1853, København)

The Russian Ship of the Line "Asow" and a Frigate at Anchor near Elsinore

1828
Oil on canvas, 63 x 51 cm
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

After 1821 seascapes had become Eckersberg's favourite subject. They allowed him to bring together his interest in nature, ships, and meteorology, and over the next three decades he had the opportunity to depict almost every conceivable type of ship in every marine situation imaginable.

Eckersberg had studied Russian ships of the line on two occasions before embarking on the painting of the "Asow" in 1828. Both times, however, his studies were made at Copenhagen, not Elsinore as shown in this picture. Thus, this painting is not a faithful reproduction of a single, specific scene; it is a presentation of what the ship would look like if viewed from a favourable position on the Øresund.