Comment on 22.10.1808

This was probably written more than a year later in a letter of 2.3.1810 to the building commission for Christiansborg which begins: “The model for the bas-relief for the large pediment for the town hall, which is to be executed in stucco, was the first item I began; [...]”. This is the relief Jupiter, Minerva and Nemesis, A316, which was originally commissioned for C.F. Hansen’s town hall and courthouse in Copenhagen, cf. letter of 31.12.1806 and the related article about the Commission for the Town Hall and Courthouse. In 1847 the relief in terracotta was placed on Christiansborg Palace, where it was destroyed in the fire of 1884.
Thorvaldsen’s later addition to the draft supports Thiele’s account of Thorvaldsen’s habit of leaving his papers lying around and often reusing what was at hand, see e.g. Thiele I p. VI-VIII and the article about the History of the archives.

Last updated 04.03.2016