Comment on 29.4.1823
Thorvaldsen is here referring to an accidental shooting 23.3.1823 in his home, where one of his landlord’s sons, 6-year-old Cesare Buti, accidentally fired a loaded pistol. The bullet grazed the sculptor, but the wound was apparently superficial. A very full account of the episode is found in Thiele III, p. 169-172. In spite of its generally undramatic tone, Thorvaldsen’s account also has a touch of miraculous survival about it. He tells the story as if the actual sequence of events were known to the Crown Prince in advance, which it may have been, although the short time since the event seems to indicate the opposite.
Last updated 23.05.2016