Christen Købke, 'Portrait of P. Ryder, Son of the Artist’s Cousin', 1848

Christen Købke’s second cousin, P. Ryder, was a handsome man. He appears to have enjoyed a relaxed attitude to life, despite the hard work involved in being a meesterbakker, or master baker. He perches astride the corner of a scrubbed work table, his beautifully described arms lightly folded across his chest. He has a cigarillo between his fingers, and his baker’s hat is at a rakish angle. The pretzels in the basket behind him bear witness to his skills. Yet his garments, although worn and comfortable, are spotless, his hands are clean, with no sign of the ingredients or effort involved in their making. He is the proprietor now, rather than an artisan, perhaps.

His white shirt glows a pale yellow in the soft light. It is open to the waist and the sleeves are neatly turned up. His trousers strain across his belly. The curls of his beard tickle his neck. Tiny hairs show up against the shirt collar. One finger strays onto the fabric to show us its crisp texture. These are the kinds of minute detail that Købke excelled in capturing. It is a strong image of a man happy in his own skin.

Yet there seems to be an undercurrent that gives a slight sense of unease. The gaze of the brown eyes is almost too intense, too questioning. The mouth is very slightly open. There is a feeling that the fingers might flick away the cigarillo and Ryder slip down from the table and confront us.

Købke painted the picture not long before he died of pneumonia in 1848. Like most of his other portraits, it is of a family member. Unlike them, it is much larger than his usual style. It is painted in the smooth academic manner of his strict classical training at the Royal Danish Academy, but with a restricted palette. In contrast, his picture of his friend Wilhelm Bendz (National Gallery, London), made when they were students together, is suffused with radiant colour and painted with freer brushstrokes. This miniature jewel of a portrait demands attention.

Before leaving Denmark for a long visit to Italy, Købke submitted a landscape painting to the Academy in the hope of becoming a member. It was well received and he thought it a foregone conclusion that he would be welcomed on his return, but he was refused. Købke, a shy and modest man, was bitterly disappointed but accepted the decision and returned to working on his small, delicate images. Why, then, did he suddenly paint this picture so differently? We can only speculate whether this powerful image was intended to show the Academy how wrong it had been.

Over the years, the appreciation for Købke’s art grew stronger. He was praised internationally for the balance in his compositions, the harmony of his colours and his sense of everyday life. Meesterbakker Ryder can rest easy on his work table and finish his cigarillo. His cousin’s atmospheric landscapes and revealing portraits are now widely acclaimed and valued. Academician or not, Købke is considered to be one of the greatest painters of the Danish Golden Age.