This serene and emotionally resonant painting depicts the well-known scene from the Gospels (Mark 10:13–16) in which Christ invites little children to come to Him, rebuking His disciples for turning them away. With gentle authority and a radiant expression, Jesus teaches the central Christian lesson of humility and childlike faith. Wegener’s composition is marked by balanced architecture, sculptural drapery, and a warm palette—hallmarks of Danish academic painting with clear Italianate influences.
Gustav Theodor Wegener was born in Denmark in 1817, the son of theologian Jens Ernst Wegener and Birgitte Bindesbøll. He studied under the court painter Jon Gulsen Berg and later at the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen. After training in Germany as a decorative painter, he returned to Denmark and became known for his biblical, historical, and genre scenes. In 1844, he won a gold medal for his painting Tobias Goes on a Journey with the Angel, and later undertook a formative study tour in Italy. From 1871 until his death in 1877, Wegener taught at the drawing school of the Copenhagen Academy.
Though not widely remembered today, Wegener’s work reflects the ideals of Denmark’s Golden Age of painting: clarity of narrative, reverence for sacred subjects, and academic discipline grounded in humanistic values.
Signed Lower Left
Oil on Canvas
56 x 48 in.
