Church-Goers Arriving by Boat at the Parish Church of Leksand on Siljan Lake

Church-Goers Arriving by Boat at the Parish Church of Leksand on Siljan Lake, Sweden (Danish: Kirkefærd i Dalarne i Sverige.

Back from his honeymoon, Marstrand received a commission from C.- A. Thomsen for a large painting of this scene for the Danish National Gallery.

In his book I Sverige (1851), Andersen had described the colourful tableau with the church-goers:[1] In Danish Tolv lil fjorten lange Baade, af Form som Gondoler, laae allerede trukket op paa den flade Strandbred, der her er oversaaet med store Steen; disse selv tjente de Landstigende til Bro; hen til disse lagde Baadene, og Folkene klattrede, gik og bar hinanden gjensidig iland.

Baadene kom nærmere, alle propfulde af Mennesker; men stille, uden Støj og Tale kom de og balancerede op til SkovskraMiten; Baadene blev trukne op paa Sandet; det var til at male, især eet Punkt, nemlig Veien op ad Skovskrænten, hvor den hele Skare bevæger sig mellem Træer og Buske.

He observes: "In contrast to virtually all of Marstrand’s earlier depictions of life, he chose here to eschew anecdote and suppress any urge to caricature or beautify.