Rørbye & Bindesbøll. The Journey to Constantinople

Two Artists Abroad

Rørbye and Bindesbøll crossed paths in Italy in the mid-1830s during their prolonged study tours abroad. After a stay in Naples, they decided to continue travelling together to Greece, which had recently gained independence from Ottoman control. From there, they were unexpectedly given the opportunity to travel on to Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire – an unusual destination for two Danish artists at the time.

They arrived in Constantinople (today Istanbul) in December 1835 and stayed for six weeks, producing a remarkable number of sketches. Rørbye focused on the life of the city: coffee houses, public fountains, and the crowds around the great mosques. Bindesbøll, by contrast, concentrated on architecture – its ornamentation, colours and structures – often depicted in precise details rather than monumental overviews. On 1 February 1836, they left the city.

The journey to Constantinople proved transformative. Rørbye returned home and created a series of Orientalist paintings that quickly gained him recognition. For Bindesbøll, the impact of the journey was subtler, yet deeply embedded in his architectural work. His encounter with Ottoman ornamentation and polychromy played a significant role in shaping his highly personal style, most notably in Thorvaldsen’s Museum.

The Exhibition

With Rørbye & Bindesbøll. The Journey to Constantinople, the David Collection invites visitors to embark on this shared journey. The exhibition focuses on the stay in Constantinople as a clearly defined and pivotal chapter in both artists’ careers.

Through travel sketches and a selection of later paintings, the exhibition traces the course of the journey and the motifs that preoccupied the artists. The exhibition combines a partly chronological structure with thematic sections and reveals how experiences from the journey were processed and transformed after their return to Denmark. At the same time, it tells a broader story about artistic inspiration and about how shared experiences and mutual observation can shape very different artistic expressions.

Works and Publication

The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see works that have never been shown in combination, including several of Bindesbøll’s sketches that are exhibited for the first time. Loans have been secured from some of the country’s most important museums and institutions, as well as from private collections.

In connection with the exhibition, a richly illustrated book will be published in collaboration with Strandberg Publishing, featuring contributions by Mogens Pelt, Peter Thule Kristensen, Jesper Svenningsen, Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen and Anette Lindbøg Karlsen. In the event program David’s Bazaar, visitors can also learn more about both the exhibition and present-day Turkey.

Dates: 5 February – 23 August 2026

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