Lundbye at Vindekilde on Røsnæs

Vindekilde lies on the south coast of Røsnæs, not far from Røsnæsgården and the nature school. The site is landmark 11 of Lundbye Landmarks, because it was the first place the Danish Golden Age painter J.Th. Lundbye headed for on both of his long stays on the peninsula. You reach it from the car park just before the nature school, following the path down towards the south coast and on along the nature trail to the viewpoint at the knoll called Kik Ud.

The first evening on Røsnæs

In August 1843 Lundbye visited his brother Honoratius at Røsnæsgården, then called Hestehavegården. That same evening the two brothers walked out to Vindekilde. On 24 August Lundbye drew a sketch of the spring in black ink and watercolour, and the stay also produced a landscape from Refsnæs on grey-blue paper and a view across the peninsula towards Samsø.

Lundbye never painted the spring in oil, but the coast here took a central place in his vision of the Danish landscape. He considered the coast of Zealand to have the noblest Danish character and disliked comparisons of Danish scenery with Norway and Switzerland. When he returned in 1847 he drew and painted the beach at Refsnæs again, including a small oil painting from June that year.

The landscape today

The landscape at Vindekilde has not changed much since Lundbye’s time, although the hawthorn scrub has spread. Out in the water off Bavnebjerg lies the boulder Blak, linked to the legend of Prince Valdemar, and an old fisherman’s hut west of Røsnæsgården still stands. In late May, when the hawthorn is in bloom, the coast is especially beautiful.

From here it is not far to Hellede Klint, the tip of Røsnæs and the other landmarks on the peninsula. Find more inspiration for nature and experiences on Røsnæs at destinationsjaelland.dk.