Comment on 6.8.1804

It is not completely clear what Thorvaldsen is suggesting to Abildgaard here. He seems to think that the money Consul Ulrich paid for the transportation of the five crates should be reimbursed by the Academy of Fine Arts / Abildgaard. Therefore, Thorvaldsen wants to draw a bill on Abildgaard.
However, as he also asks Abildgaard to deduct the transport charges from the money Thorvaldsen erroneously thought was owed to him from the sale of the busts he had sent home earlier, it seems that part of Consul Ulrich’s expenses was to be covered by Thorvaldsen himself.
In both the first and the later draft of this letter, Thorvaldsen makes a different and less modest proposal. Here he thinks that the Academy of Fine Arts has to pay all the transport charges and also give him a sum corresponding to the profit from the sale of the busts.
Regarding this matter, see Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks to Copenhagen 1798 and 1802.

Last updated 08.06.2015