Bertel Thorvaldsen
Denmark's great sculptor.
Bertel Thorvaldsen worked in Rome for forty years and was one of the most famous artists of his day. His museum in Copenhagen opened in 1848.
Bertel Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen, probably in 1770. His father was an Icelandic woodcarver who carved figureheads and ornaments for the shipyards. Bertel entered the Danish Academy of Fine Arts at just eleven. He won all the academy's medals and finally received a travel scholarship. On 8 March 1797 he arrived in Rome. For the rest of his life he celebrated that day as his “Roman birthday”.
The first years were hard, and he came close to giving up and going home. His breakthrough came with the statue Jason with the Golden Fleece (1802–03), which a wealthy Englishman commissioned in marble. After that, commissions poured in from all over Europe. He ran a large workshop in Rome with many assistants and stayed in the city for some forty years. He mixed with artists from every country, and his studio became an essential stop for travellers.
Thorvaldsen's style is austere and calm. He sought the classical ideal of repose and simplicity and avoided violent movement. The surfaces are smooth and the figures pure. He made mythological statues such as Ganymede and Hebe, and reliefs such as the famous pair Night and Day (1815). He designed the Lion Monument in Lucerne, which honours the Swiss Guards who died during the French Revolution. For the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen he made Christ and the Twelve Apostles. He also made the funerary monument to Pope Pius VII in St Peter's, even though he was a Protestant.
Thorvaldsen never married. He had a long relationship with a Roman woman, Anna Maria Magnani, and had a child with her. In 1838 he returned to Copenhagen and was received as a national hero. He donated his collections and models to the city. He died suddenly in 1844 during a performance at the Royal Danish Theatre.
The Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen opened in 1848 and is one of Denmark's first public museums. Thorvaldsen himself is buried in the museum's courtyard. He was one of the most famous artists of his day, and his style influenced sculpture throughout Europe, not least in Sweden.