Bertel Thorvaldsen

Bertel Thorvaldsen (19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danish-Icelandic sculptor and medalist who gained international renown, living most of his life in Italy from 1797 to 1838. Born in Copenhagen to a working-class family with Icelandic roots, he entered the Royal Danish Academy of Art at age eleven. He worked part-time assisting his father, a wood carver, and earned numerous honors and medals at the academy. A stipend allowed him to travel to Rome for further study.

In Rome, Thorvaldsen built a reputation as a sculptor, running a large workshop and working in a heroic neoclassical style. His patrons came from across Europe. When he returned to Denmark in 1838, he was hailed as a national hero. The Thorvaldsen Museum was built next to Christiansborg Palace to display his works, and he is buried in its courtyard. During his lifetime, he was regarded as the successor to the master sculptor Antonio Canova. Notable public monuments include statues of Nicolaus Copernicus and Józef Poniatowski in Warsaw; Maximilian I in Munich; and the tomb of Pope Pius VII in St. Peter’s Basilica—the only work there by a non-Catholic.

Thorvaldsen’s early life was humble. His father, Gottskálk Þorvaldsson, an Icelander who settled in Denmark, carved decorations for ships and influenced his son’s career. His mother, Karen Dagnes (sometimes called Grønlund), was a Jutlandic peasant. No birth certificate or baptismal record survives; only his 1787 confirmation is documented. Thorvaldsen claimed descent from Snorri Thorfinnsson, the first European born in America. His father’s drinking slowed his own career, and Thorvaldsen likely received all his schooling at home. He never became a strong writer or acquired the refined cultural knowledge expected of artists.

In 1781, friends helped eleven-year-old Thorvaldsen enter the Royal Danish Academy of Art, first as a draftsman and, from 1786, in the modeling school. At night he helped his father with wood carving. Professors Nicolai Abildgaard and Johannes Wiedewelt influenced his later neoclassical style. He won several prizes at the academy, including a gold medal in 1793 for a relief of St. Peter healing a crippled beggar. This earned him a royal stipend to study in Rome. He left Copenhagen on 30 August aboard the frigate *Thetis*, landed in Palermo in January 1797, studied in Naples for a month, and entered Rome on 8 March 1797. Since his birth date was unrecorded, he celebrated that day as his “Roman birthday” for life.

In Rome, Thorvaldsen lived at Casa Buti on Via Sistina, facing the Spanish Steps, and worked in the stables of the Palazzo Barberini. Danish archaeologist Georg Zoëga mentored him, helping him appreciate antique art. At Zoëga’s home, Thorvaldsen met Anna Maria von Uhden (born Magnani), a former maid who had married a German archaeologist. She became his mistress, leaving her husband in 1803, and in 1813 gave birth to their daughter, Elisa Thorvaldsen. He also studied with Dane Asmus Jacob Carstens, whose classical themes inspired him. His first success was a model of *Jason* in 1801, praised by Antonio Canova, but it sold slowly. With his stipend exhausted, he planned to return to Denmark. In 1803, as he prepared to leave Rome, wealthy English patron Thomas Hope commissioned the *Jason* in marble, securing Thorvaldsen’s career. He then stayed in Italy for another sixteen years.

The marble *Jason* was not finished until 25 years later, as Thorvaldsen became very busy. In 1803 he began *Achilles and Briseïs*, his first classically themed relief. In 1804 he completed *Dance of the Muses at Helicon* and a group statue of *Cupid and Psyche*, along with other early works like *Apollo*, *Bacchus*, and *Ganymedes*. By 1805 he expanded his workshop and hired assistants, who did most of the marble carving while he focused on sketches and finishing touches. A statue of *Adonis*, commissioned by Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1808 and finished in 1832, is one of the few marbles carved entirely by Thorvaldsen’s own hand and is among his works closest to ancient Greek ideals.

In spring 1818 Thorvaldsen fell ill and was nursed by Scottish lady Frances Mackenzie. He proposed to her on 29 March 1819, but the engagement was called off after a month. He had fallen for another woman, Fanny Caspers, but torn between Mackenzie and Anna Maria Von Uhden (mother of his daughter Elisa), he never married Caspers. In 1819 he visited Denmark, where he was commissioned to create the colossal series of statues of Christ.