Just outside Kalundborg, on the road to Røsnæs, lies the village of Raklev, and on a low hill behind the houses you will find Vrie Dolmen. It is one of many Neolithic stone tombs in the area, but it holds a very special place in Danish art history: it was the model for the painting of an ancient burial mound at Raklev that the Golden Age painter Johan Thomas Lundbye created in 1839. The site is part of Lundbye Landmarks, where a landmark post with a QR code tells the story.

From dolmen to painting

Lundbye was only 20 when he painted the great dolmen on the hill with the fjord and Asnæs in the background. The painting was bought by the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen and now hangs in the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen. Yet Lundbye did not paint the dolmen exactly as it looked. He composed the motif using stones from other dolmens in the area and altered both the capstone and the supporting stones to achieve the monumental effect he wanted. It is a clear example of how the Golden Age painters worked: starting from the real landscape, but composing it to create an ideal image of Denmark.

The view from the hill

From the hill by the dolmen you look out across the fjord towards Asnæs, just as in the painting. The landscape has since become more built-up and wooded, and the town has grown closer, but the horizon and the gleaming surface of the fjord are recognisable. The church-like building in the background of the painting may be the old brickworks on Asnæs, which Lundbye later painted himself – one of several threads linking his motifs across the area.

Prehistory in the landscape

Dolmens are among the oldest structures in the country. They were built as tombs some 5,000 years ago by the first farmers, and their huge stones have been part of the Danish landscape ever since. For Lundbye and his contemporaries, these ancient monuments symbolised the nation's long history, and he returned to them again and again in drawings and paintings. Just a few hundred metres away lies the stone setting known as Hundehovedet by Raklev Church, whose standing stones also feature in his works.

How to find the dolmen

The dolmen is reached from the end of the road called Skeltoften in Raklev. From here a path runs between two plots and on across the field behind the houses up to the dolmen, where the landmark post stands. Please respect neighbours and grazing animals and leave the stones untouched – the dolmen is a protected ancient monument. Raklev is a few kilometres from the centre of Kalundborg and easily reached by bike.

More to explore

Vrie Dolmen is part of the Lundbye Landmarks town walk, which also includes the painter's birthplace, the church and the sculpture in Kalundborg, and it combines well with the routes on Røsnæs and Asnæs. Find more ancient monuments, nature areas and sights in the area at destinationsjaelland.dk.

Who is it for?

The site is for anyone interested in prehistory, art history or simply a quiet moment in the landscape. If you have seen Lundbye's painting, it is a special experience to stand by the real dolmen and discover for yourself what the painter added and what he left out. It also makes a great destination for a short bike ride from town.