Comment on 14.8.1806

Already in his letter dated 31.1.1805, Abildgaard had asked Thorvaldsen: “… how much is the bust of Rothe. I will then talk to his son about it to have it paid for…”. Thorvaldsen had answered in his letter dated
18.6.1806: Rothe’s bust “… you can sell for what you please, Sir …”. This answer was clearly a little too imprecise to Abildgaard, but Thorvaldsen did not mention the matter in his reply dated 23.9.1806. This may be the explanation why Thorvaldsen, as far as can be ascertained, never received any payment from the Rothe family.
After Thorvaldsen’s return to Denmark in 1838, however, Tyge Rothe’s son gave the bust to the sculptor.

Last updated 12.02.2018