19.10.1805

Sender

Nicolai Abildgaard

Sender’s Location

København

Recipient

Bertel Thorvaldsen

Recipient’s Location

Rom

Information on recipient

Ingen udskrift.

Dating based on

Dateringen fremgår af brevet.

Abstract

Abildgaard is sympathetic to the idea that Thorvaldsen should remain in Rome for the time being but mentions that the sculptor has a position and a place to live in Copenhagen. Thorvaldsen will soon receive a commission for two statues. Abildgaard has paid for the transportation of the crates Thorvaldsen sent to Copenhagen. He thanks him for the busts of Homer, A751, and Raphael, A752. The other busts by Thorvaldsen have not been sold. Jacob Baden’s widow has agreed to pay 200 rix-dollars for the bust of her husband, A863. Abildgaard has helped Thorvaldsen’s father.
At the bottom of the page Thorvaldsen has added a list of Theodor van der Ropp’s commissions.

Document

Kiøbenhavn 19de Oct 1805.

Gode Ven!
Deres Brev af 28de JuliI modtog ieg med forrige Post, det har altsaa varen 2 Maaneder underveysII, men ligemeget, det var mig icke mindre kiærkommen og det skal alletider være mig en inderlig fornøyelse at erfare det gaar Dem vel, og det har voren mig en sand glæde at kunde biedrage lidet dertil. at De bliver i RomIII saa længe De der har noget at bestille, finder ieg ganske naturligt, men da ieg altid seer hen i tiden, tænkte ieg det icke var af veyen om De havde et tilflugt stedIV i paakommende tilfælde. lever De bliver De gammel, det var og muligt at krigens uroeligheder kunde drive Dem fra Rom, og det største uhæld der nu kan hænde Dem er at have frie Boelig og 400 rd aarligV at leve af. det er icke meget men trang til det nødtoftige er De sikret for. De vil nu snart faa ordre at giøre to figurer i heroisk Større[lse]VI.
De skrev mig forrige Aar at De havde trucken paa mig 44 piaster 62 1/2 baj.VII og ieg belavede mig derpaa, men ingen har indfunden sig med nogen anviisning imidlertid for at faa denne Sag avgiort har Justitsraad FrischVIII paataget sig at betale disse Penge til Her UlrichIX i Livorno, saa De kan ansee den sag som avgiortX. idag indfandt sig hos mig en vis Kiøbmand Rabe HolmXI i denne anledning, og ieg svarede ham, at Pengene vare betalte, dette kunde han skrive Her Ulrich til.
Den omskrevne PortefeulleXII har ieg erfaret med megen møye var hos Frue BrunXIII, men ieg har icke seet den, om bogen med kobbereXIV ved ieg icke noget om, men hvad hun havde, har hun sagt mig at have avleveret til Her WestXV. Tak for Homer og RaphaelXVI, men da disse buster har kostet Dem Penge foruden Deres Arbeide, saa vil ieg bede De vil antage hvad ieg har betalt i Livorno, som en liden erstatning for Deres udlægXVII. Hvad de øvrige bysterXVIII angaar, da staar de endnu alle hos mig untagen Grev BernstorffsXIX som ieg strax sendte til Grev ReventlowXX, hvor det endnu staar, hvor flere fik det at [se] end hos mig. ney ney min kiære ven, man er icke begiærlig efter konstsagerXXI her, ieg har ladet dem slæbe til og fra KronprindsenXXII, og alle fornemme have seet dem hos mig, men ingen har til denne Dag spurgt hvad de skulde koste. ieg har talt med Prof: Jacob Badens EnkeXXIII, og Hun er villig at betale Dem 200 rd Dansk courant for hendes Mands BusteXXIV i Marmor, skulde De finde at De icke hermed var betalt for Deres Arbeide kan De lade det beroe.
Hvad Deres FaderXXV angaar, da er hans tilstand nu icke mere saa trænge som den har voren, icke fordi han er kommen i VartovXXVI da han der ekeXXVII har mere end 3 MkXXVIII ugentlig, men da ieg har bragt hans ting i ordenXXIX kan han nu Hielpe sig med mindre, og hvad ieg fremdeles kan giøre for ham skal ieg giøre med fornøyelse. her har De nu et BrevXXX fra ham som han har bedet mig besørge. fra SergellXXXI skal ieg hilse Dem, han er ret glad at De er bleven til den Mand han ventede.
Lev nu vel og vær vis paa at ieg skal icke forbigaae nogen leilighed der kunde komme Dem til gavn, og troe ieg er uforandret

Deres
Ven
Abildgaard

P.S. Hils alle, som vil Hilses fra mig


[Med Thorvaldsens hånd og med blyant f.n. på arket følgende listeXXXII:]

ApolloXXXIII
ArianaXXXIV
MelpomeneXXXV
HomerXXXVI
CicenroXXXVII
SaphoXXXVIII
VenusXXXIX
JupitterXL
il Baso[xx]boXLI
VenusXLII
60
60
50
60
50
50
40
100
550 3/2
550 400

Oversættelse af dokument

Copenhagen, October 19th 1805

Good friend,
I received your letter of July 28th in the last mail, so it has taken 2 months to get here. Nevertheless it was not less dear to me and it will always be a deep pleasure to me to learn that you are happy, and it has been a true pleasure to me to be able to contribute a little. I find it quite natural that you stay in Rome as long as you have something to do, but as I always look ahead, I thought that it would not be a bad idea for you to have a refuge, if it should be needed. If you live you will become old, it might also be possible that the turmoil of the war would make you leave Rome, and the biggest misfortune that might happen to you is to have a free residence and 400 rd annually to live on. It is not much, but you are protected from need of necessities. You will soon receive a commission of two figures larger than life.
You wrote to me last year that you had drawn from me 44 piaster 62½ bajocchi and I prepared myself for it. However, to close the matter Counsellor Frisch has accepted to pay this money to Mr Ulrich in Livorno, so you may regard this matter as settled. A certain businessman Rabe Holm presented himself at my home today about this matter and I answered him that the money had been paid, he could write this to Mr Ulrich.
I have learned with much difficulty that the mentioned portfolio was at Mrs Brun’s place, but I have not seen it, I know nothing about the book with copper engravings, but all she had, she has told me, she has given up to Mr West. Thank you for Homer and Raphael, but as these busts have cost you money besides your work, I will ask you to accept what I have paid in Livorno as a small compensation for your expenses. As for the other busts they are all still at my place except for the one of Count Bernstorff, Which I immediately sent to Count Reventlow, where it still is, where more people would see it than at my place. No, no, my dear friend people are not eager for objects of art here, I have had the busts dragged to and from the Crown Prince, and all distinguished people have seen them at my place, but nobody to this date has asked what they cost. I have talked to professor Baden’s widow and she is prepared to pay you 200rd Danish currency for the bust of her husband in marble, if you should find that by this you have not been paid for your work, you may leave it.
Concerning your father, his situation is no longer as hard as it used to be, not because he has moved to Vartov as he has no more than 3 Marks a week, but as I have now got his matters in order, he can now make do with less and what I can still do for him, I shall do with pleasure. Enclosed is a letter from him, which he has asked me to send. Kind regards to you from Sergell, he is rather pleased that you have become the man he expected you to.
Take care of yourself and be assured that I shall not disregard any opportunity to benefit you, believe I am still

Your
Friend
Abildgaard

P.S. Give my regards to those who would like it.


[in Thorvaldsen’s hand and in pencil at the bottom of the sheet is the following list:]

Apollo
Ariadne
Melpomene
Homer
Cicero
Sapho
Venus
Jupiter
Bas-relief
Venus
60
60
50
60
50
50
40
100
550 3/2
550 400


[Translated by Karen Husum]

Archival Reference

m1 1805, nr. 28

Thiele

Gengivet hos Thiele II, p. 41-43, bortset fra listen for neden.

Subjects

Persons

Works

A759 Agrippa, 1799 - 1800, inv.nr. A759
A760 Cicero, 1799 - 1800, inv.nr. A760
A761 Cicero, 1799 - 1800, inv.nr. A761
A752 Rafael, januar 1800 - oktober 1800, inv.nr. A752
A225 Tyge Rothe, juni 1797 - december 1797, inv.nr. A225
A208 A.P. Bernstorff, Antagelig tidligst september 1797 - Senest november 1797, inv.nr. A208
A751 Homer, 1799, inv.nr. A751
A863 Jacob Baden, juni 1806 - september 1806, inv.nr. A863
A853 Venus med æblet, 1828, inv.nr. A853
A489 Briseis føres væk fra Achilleus af Agamemnons herolder, 1865, inv.nr. A489

Commentaries

  1. Thorvaldsen’s letter dated 28.7.1805.

  2. Even though it took the letter two months to get from Rome to Copenhagen, this was not unusual, considering the long mail processing time from Southern to Northern Europe, see the related article about this.

  3. In his letter dated 31.1.1805, Abildgaard asked how long Thorvaldsen intended to stay in Rome. The sculptor answered that he did not intend to make his stay a permanent one, but that work detained him for the present, see letter dated 28.7.1805.
    Regarding Thorvaldsen’s prolonged stay in Rome, see A Free Man. Thorvaldsen’s Continuance in Rome.

  4. I.e. the professorship in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen to which Thorvaldsen had been appointed 7.6.1805.
    Already in January 1805, Abildgaard, in his capacity of director of the Academy, had made plans for Thorvaldsen to take over the professorship which would fall vacant when Andreas Weidenhaupt died, see letter dated 31.1.1805.
    Regarding Abildgaard’s scheme to secure this position for Thorvaldsen, see Thiele II, p. 18-19. Incidentally, his conduct aroused some animosity among the artists at the Academy, see letter dated 18.6.1805 from C.F. Stanley to C.F.F. Stanley and Thiele II, p. 41.

  5. The 400 rix-dollars and free residence at Charlottenborg that followed the position of professor. The salary, however, would not be paid until Thorvaldsen returned to Copenhagen, see the terms of the professorship in the latter dated 15.6.1805 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen to Thorvaldsen.

  6. Even though it is not clear what two figures Abildgaard is referring to here, it must be two statues either for Christiansborg Palace or for the new Town Hall and Courthouse in Copenhagen. Both buildings were designed by C.F. Hansen.
    Abildgaard had earlier told Thorvaldsen that there was talk in Copenhagen of commissioning decorations for Christiansborg Palace from him, see letter dated 17.1.1804.
    C.F. Hansen, however, did not commission works for the two buildings until 31.12.1806. The only two statues mentioned here were to represent “the first two lawmakers, Solon and Lycurgus” for the façade of the townhall and courthouse.
    Abildgaaard could be referring to these two figures, which were never realized, but it is also quite possible that there was talk in 1805 about asking Thorvaldsen to create “two figures of heroic size” for Christiansborg Palace. However, Hansen changed his mind about Thorvaldsen’s part in the decoration of Christianborg: In the commission letter dated 31.12.1806, Hansen did not want statues by Thorvaldsen for Christiansborg, but in 1804 it was discussed whether to ask the sculptor to execute four colossal statues for the palace façade, see letter dated 28.12.1804 and the related article about the Commission for Christiansborg Palace.

  7. Piastre_ is a monetary unit which is roughly equivalent to the more common Roman monetary unit the scudo; baj. is an abbreviation of bajocchi, which was a small coin in the Papal States. 1 bajocco = 1/100 of a scodu, see also the related article about Monetary Units.
    The sum mentioned corresponds to transport charges from Rome to Leghorn of the crates that Thorvaldsen sent to Copenhagen in 1800-02, see Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks 1798 and 1802.
    However, Abildgaard’s representation of the matter is rather imprecise: Already on “20.3.1802”:/dokumenter/ea0302, Thorvaldsen had asked Abildgaard to reimburse the Danish consul in Leghorn, J.C. Ulrich, for the transportation charges, and the merchant Peter Rabeholm from Copenhagen, mentioned below, had come to see Abildgaard already in 1803 and asked in vain for the payment on Ulrich’s behalf, see letter dated 18.4.1803 from J.C. Ulrich to Thorvaldsen.
    So, it does not seem to be correct, as Abildgaard writes below, that he had not been contacted by anyone with a bill. And if he had followed Thorvaldsen’s original request, he should have repaid the money on his own initiative.

  8. Probably the Danish merchant H.M. Frisch.

  9. The Danish consul at Leghorn, J.C. Ulrich.

  10. The matter, however, was not settled immediately. Thorvaldsen was not informed by Ulrich until 28.7.1806 that Frisch had paid part of the transport charges 14.2.1806. Thorvaldsen then had to repay Ulrich the rest of his expenses.

  11. The Danish merchant Peter Rabeholm. Rabeholm was the man who, according to the letter dated 18.4.1803 from J.C. Ulrich to Thorvaldsen already once had tried in vain to collect the transport charges from Abildgaard. In the letter dated 6.1.1806 from J.C. Ulrich to Thorvaldsen, Ulrich wrote that he had been told by his contact in Copenhagen, presumably Rabeholm, that Abildgaard once more had refused to pay the claim. Part of the amount, however, was paid to Ulrich 14.2.1806, cf. the note above.

  12. This portfolio contained copperplate engravings but is not known. Thorvaldsen had asked about it in his letter dated 6.8.1804, and Abildgaard had answered 31.1.1805 that he knew nothing bout the matter.
    The portfolio was sent in one of crates that were transported on board the frigate Triton from Leghorn to Copenhagen in 1802 and mentioned in Thorvaldsen’s letter dated 4.4.1800.
    By mistake, the portfolio had been given to Friedrich Münter but was intended for Jørgen West.
    In his letter dated 11.3.1803, West mentions that he had not received anything from Thorvaldsen at that time.

  13. The Danish author Friederike Brun.

  14. A volume with landscape etchings, which Thorvaldsen asked about in his letter dated 6.8.1804, and which he had sent to Denmark with Frederik Obelitz and Jens Schumacher.
    The volume has not been identified.

  15. Thorvaldsen’s good friend, the Danish carpenter Jørgen West.

  16. Thorvaldsen’s marble busts of Homer, A751, and Raphael, A752, which he gave to Abildgaard in his letter 28.7.1805 in order to thank him for his support.

  17. Thorvaldsen probably wondered at Abildgaard’s generosity since he thought that the Academy of Fine Arts / Abildgaard ought to pay for the transportation of the crates.

  18. I.e. the busts by Thorvaldsen that had been sent to Copenhagen from Rome in two consignments. They were: Tyge Rothe, A225, Agrippa, A759, Cicero, A760 and A761.

  19. Thorvaldsen’s bust of A.P. Bernstorff (Brahetrolleborg, cf. A208).

  20. The Danish Prime Minister Christian Ditlev Reventlow.

  21. Abildgaard’s evaluation of the arts in Denmark was clearly not optimistic, see also the related article Thorvaldsen’s Continuance in Rome 1803-04.

  22. Crown Prince Frederik (6.). Already in his letter dated 17.1.1804, Abildgaard had written that the bust had been placed at the residence of the Crown Prince.

  23. I.e. Sophie Louise Charlotte Baden, née Klenow (1740-1824), who had been married to the Danish linguist Jacob Baden.

  24. Thorvaldsen’s bust of Jacob Baden, A863. The 200 rix-dollars Danish currency, mentioned as payment for the bust, corresponds to the amount that Thorvaldsen had requested in his letter 28.7.1805. See the related article about Monetary Units.

  25. I.e. Gotskalk Thorvaldsen.

  26. Gotskalk Thorvaldsen’s circumstances were so poor that he was admitted to the institution of Vartov, see the related article about this.

  27. Dvs. ikke.

  28. Dvs. mark, se evt. referenceartiklen om møntenheder.

  29. See the father’s letter dated 20.10.1805, in which he mentions what Abildgaard did for him.

  30. See the letter dated 20.10.1805.

  31. The Swedish sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel. Thorvaldsen and Sergel met at any rate in 1794 in Copenhagen while Thorvaldsen was working for Abildgaard at Amalienborg Palace, see also Sergel’s biography for an amusing anecdote about the meeting of the two.

  32. The list enumerates the Courland aristocrat Theodor von der Ropp’s final commission of works from Thorvaldsen 1804-1805. Opposite each work is the price in Roman scudi.
    See more in the related article about Ropp’s Commission.

  33. I.e. a copy of the head of the statue Apollo Belvedere in the Vatican Museum in Rome, see Ropp’s Commission.

  34. I.e. a copy of Bacchus in the Capitoline Museum – at the time of the commission it was regarded as an Ariadne, see Ropp’s Commission.

  35. I.e. a copy of the head of the statue Melpomene in the Vatican Museum in Rome, see Ropp’s Commission.

  36. Ie. a copy of a bust of Homer in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. Already in 1799, Thorvaldsen had made a copy of this bust, A751, see Ropp’s Commission.

  37. Copy of a bust of Cicero in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. Thorvaldsen had previously, in 1799-1800, executed two marble copies of this work, A760 & A761, see Ropp’s Commission.

  38. I.e. a copy of a bust, which, at the time of the commission, was regarded as an antique bust of Sappho. The original has not been identified, see Ropp’s Commission.

  39. I.e. a copy of the head of the statue Venus of Medici, in the Uffizies in Florence, see Ropp’s Commission.

  40. I.e. a copy of Jupiter/Zeus from Otricoli in Museo Pio Clemente in the Vatican. See more in the related article about Ropp’s Commission.

  41. This bas-relief is identical with the first marble version of the relief Briseis and Achilleus (jf. A489), see more in the related article about Ropp’s Commission.

  42. An early version of the statue Venus (cf. A853), see more in the related article about Ropp’sCommission.

Last updated 12.02.2018