En skonnert

23 May 1803

Arrives in Copenhagen and enters the Academy

Having saved some money and received help from local well-wishers, he arrives in Copenhagen on 23 May 1803; the same year he is admitted to the Academy free of charge, where he studies, among others, with Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard.

1809

Great Gold Medal of the Academy

Only after Abildgaard's death does he win the Academy's Great Gold Medal. A travel stipend is promised together with the medal, but the funds will not be made available until 1812.

3 July 1810

Leaves the country with de Neergaard

A few days after the wedding he sets out abroad with the writer, art lover and patron Tønnes Christian Bruun de Neergaard, travelling through Germany to Paris. He is eager to stretch his skills and knowledge and partly to escape the reality of his marriage, and he arranges the money for the journey himself, since the stipend has not yet been paid.

1811–1812

Studies under Jacques-Louis David in Paris

He improves his skill in painting the human form and follows his teacher's admonition to paint after Nature and the Antique in order to find Truth.

1818

Appointed professor at the Academy

He takes up the professorship left vacant by Abildgaard's death in 1809: the Academy had kept the post open until his return, holding off other candidates, and finally gave it both to him and to J. L. Lund (other accounts say he became a professor already in 1817). Teaching is his greatest contribution: he takes students out into the field, introducing direct study from nature into Danish art, and encourages them to develop their individual strengths.

22. juli 1853

Died