Presumably 26.6.1828

Sender

H.W. Bissen

Sender’s Location

Firenze

Information on sender

Spor af afrevet laksegl. Brevet er poststemplet ”[F]IREN[ZE]” og “30 GIVGNO”. Brevet blev antagelig datostemplet ved afsendelsen fra Firenze.

Recipient

Bertel Thorvaldsen

Recipient’s Location

Rom

Information on recipient

Udskrift: “S.T.I / / Til Herr A. Thorwaldsen / Etadsrat og Ridder / via Sistina / Roma

Dating based on

Se brevets generelle kommentar.

Abstract

Bissen recounts his journey on foot to Florence and mentions that he has seen Thorvaldsen’s Christ, cf. A82, in Carrara. Bissen, who has been asked to inform Thorvaldsen about the progress of the work, writes that the carving of the statue is so advanced that, according to Pietro Antonio Bienaimé, it will be ready for Thorvaldsen’s corrections in a few months. Bissen asks Thorvaldsen to send him a letter of recommendation so that he can get permission to see e.g. the numismatic collections during his stay in Florence.

Document

Kjære Herr Etadsraad!

Efter en meget intresant om ikke meget behagelig ReiseII er jeg da endelig kommen her til Florenz. Jeg gik over Siena, hvor jeg fand meget der intreserte mig, ogsaa til Volterra, vært at see for sin Ælde og Beliggenhed og for de tvende MuseerIII der findes af etruskiske Oldsager. Derfra gik jeg til Pisa, obhold mig nogen Dage i KamposantoIV og fortsatte saa min Reise til Carara, her saae jeg de MarmorbruteneV, der morede mig overordenlig, saa StudierneVI og Deres ChristusVII. Det var mig en sand Glæde at see dette Mesterværk allerede saa langt frem i Marmor, og derved paa en Maade sikret for Tilintegiørelsen, kun gjorte det mig ond at see ham staae eene og ikke omgivne af sine DiciplerVIII. Marmoret er fra en BlokkeIX og foruden mindste feil, og PrepareturneX, saa meget jeg forstaar mig derpaa, meget got. Alle huller og vanskelige Steder ere med megen Fliid underarbeidet saa at Udførelsen vil vere gjort med BilXI. herr BenjameXII, som viiste mig alt selv, og bad mig om at anbefale sig til Dem, mente at kunde om et Paar MaanederXIII være fertig til at modtage Deres CorecturXIV. – her er jeg for nogen Dage siden ankomen men har først idag faaet Logis og er da kommen lit i Roe, og istand til at see mig om her. – har De maaskee Lyst til at høre meer om min Reise saa beder jeg Dem om at have den Godhed, efter nogen Postdage at sige det til BravoXV, thi til ham skriver jeg saasnart jeg kan.
Disse Linier vil jeg ikke obholde længer, da De bad mig om at give Dem Efterretning om Deres Christus, men kun bede Dem om, for at jeg destobedere kunde komme til at see et og andet, f.E. Myntsamlingerne, ikke at glemme mig med det BrevXVI De havde den Godhed at love mig, som jeg da jeg ikke var saa lykkelig at treffe Dem, ikke fik førend jeg reiste. Jeg vilde takke Dem ret meget naar De maaskee vilde have den Godhed at give det til Greverne holkXVII og JuulXVIII naar de reiser, de ere nok saa god at tage det med, og har den Ere at underskrive mig uforanderlig

Deres

hengivne H.W. Bissen

Florenz den 6teXIX Juny. 28.

Oversættelse af dokument

Dear Sir,

After a very interesting though not very comfortable journey I have finally got to Florence. I went via Siena where I found much of interest, also Volterra worth seeing because of its age and location and because of the two museums with Etruscan antiquities. From there I went to Pisa, stayed for a couple of days in Camposanto and then continued my journey to Carrara, here I saw the marble quarries, which amused me extremely, saw the studios and your Christ. It was a great pleasure to see this masterpiece so far advanced in marble and thus in a way protected from destruction, but I felt sorry to see him standing alone and not surrounded by his disciples. The marble is from one block and without any blemish, and to my knowledge the preparatory work is rather good. All holes and difficult spots have been diligently worked at so that the execution will be done well. Mr Bienaimé, who showed me everything himself and asked me to recommend him to you, thought that he would be ready in a couple of months to receive your corrections. – Here I arrived a couple of days ago but have only today found lodgings and found some peace and can look around here. – If you would like to hear more about my journey I beg you to be so kind to tell it to Bravo after some mail days, as I shall write to him as soon as possible.
I will not delay these lines longer as you asked me to give you information about your Christ, but I only ask you not to forget the letter you were so kind to promise me so that I easier could see various exhibitions for example the coin collections but which I did not get as I did not manage to see you before I left. I should be very grateful if you would be so kind as to give it to the counts Holk and Juul when they leave, they will kindly take it, and I have the honour to remain

Your

devoted H.W. Bissen

Florence, June 6th 28


[Translated by Karen Husum]

General Comment

The letter is dated 6.6.1828 in a clear and legible hand, but the date may be wrong. The date should probably have been 26.6. or possibly 16.6. Several sources indicate that Bissen left Rom 3.6.1828, among them a holograph farewell letter to J.M. Thiele (Rostrup, op. cit., p. 90). After this, Bissen begins a journey which, based both on the route described above and on a more detailed description in a letter to his friend and colleague H.E. Freund (Rostrup, op. cit., p. 90-93), stretches over at least 564 kilometres. As most of the journey was made on foot, possibly by the occasional stage coach, and as it included a there-day stay at Camposanto in Pisa, it has been physically impossible to complete it between the 3rd and the 6th of June, i.e. in three days.

Thus, a more reasonable date is 26.6. because the date must be a few days before the letter was postmarked. Since Bissen in the letter asks Thorvaldsen for a letter of recommendation to be used during his stay in Florence, it is hardly likely that he would wait two weeks after completing the letter before sending it.

In his description of the journey to Freund, Bissen also writes that he left Florence in the middle of August after spending seven weeks there (Rostrup, op. cit., p. 91). Also for this reason, the arrival in Florence can be dated the end of June.

Archival Reference

m13 1828, nr. 63

Thiele

Delvist gengivet hos Thiele III, p. 344.

Other references

Subjects

Persons

Works

A82 Kristus, Antagelig november 1821 - Senest januar 1822, inv.nr. A82
A98 Jakob den Ældre, Tidligst 19. marts 1821 - Ultimo 1821, inv.nr. A98
A86 Peter, Antagelig 19. marts 1821 - juni 1821, inv.nr. A86
A87 Matthæus, Tidligst 19. marts 1821 - Ultimo 1821, inv.nr. A87
A89 Johannes, Primo 1824 - Senest 1827, inv.nr. A89
A91 Jakob den Yngre, 1823 - Senest 1827, inv.nr. A91
A93 Philip, 1823 - Senest 1827, inv.nr. A93
A94 Judas Thaddæus, 1823 - Senest 1827, inv.nr. A94
A95 Andreas, 1823 - Senest 1827, inv.nr. A95
A101 Simon Zelotes, 1823 - Senest 1827, inv.nr. A101
A103 Paulus, Antagelig 19. marts 1821 - juni 1821, inv.nr. A103
A96 Thomas, Tidligst 19. marts 1821 - Ultimo 1821, inv.nr. A96
A99 Bartholomæus, 2. august 1823 - 21. december 1823, inv.nr. A99

Commentaries

  1. Dvs. salvo titulo, der er latin for “med forbehold for titlen”. Udtrykket bruges i tilskrifter på breve, når man vil angive, at man ikke kender titlen, eller at denne formalitet ikke er nødvendig.

  2. After the completion of his sculpture Flower Girl (Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, inv.nr. MIN 3) for Prince Frederik (7.), Bissen went on a long walking tour of Tuscany and Umbria in order to study Etruscan antiques and works by Italian masters. The journey started on 3.6.1828 according to contemporary sources, among them a farewell greeting from Bissen to Thiele, and Bissen returned to Rome in the middle of September, cf. Rostrup, op. cit., p. 90-93.

  3. One of the museums was probably Museo Etrusco Guarnacci, which was founded in 1761. The other museum cannot be identified. In Handbook for Travellers in Central Italy from 1843, only the Guarnacci museum is mentioned as a collection of Etruscan art; Bissen may refer to a private collection or the many Etruscan ruins at Volterra.

  4. Camposanto in Pisa is a monumental complex of buildings with several chapels and a cemetery. Today, the area is most famous for the campanile of Pisa Cathedral, also called the Leaning Tower.

  5. Carrara is famous for its large occurrences of almost white marble, which is quarried from the Apuan Alps. Carrara marble has been used since Antiquity.

  6. “The studios” probably refers to the rooms that the Duchess of Massa-Carrara Maria Beatrice Riccarda d’Este had made available for the carving of Christ, cf. A82, and the statues of the Apostles (see letter from Ge. Petrozzani to Thorvaldsen dated 2.5.1827).

  7. Christ, cf. cast A82.

  8. From the beginning, Christ, cf. A82, was meant to be executed in marble (see letter from Building Commission for Christiansborg Palace to Thorvaldsen dated 24.11.1829). Thorvaldsen did not decide until probably 1831-1832 to have the statues of the Apostles (A86-A104) executed in marble at his own expense because he did not like the idea that they were to exist only in plaster (cf. Thiele III, p. 463-464, see also letter from Building Commission for the Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen to Thorvaldsen dated 21.2.1832). The marble versions, however, were bought from Thorvaldsen 16.10.1838 – shortly after his return to Denmark – by the University for the Church of Our Lady (see the related article Commission for the Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen). Bissen may be referring to these considerations in his remark about Christ’s loneliness.

  9. The first letter of the word is difficult to decipher. In the context, the best solution would be to transcribe it as “block” [blokke], meaning that the marble for Christ, cf. A82, is carved from one piece, while Thiele – more poetically – suggests that the marble is “like a bell” [klokke] (cf. Thiele III, p. 344). As the word “from” is quite clear, Thiele’s interpretation must be rejected.

  10. Bissens neologisme er antagelig dannet over ordet “præparatorier” (se hertil Ordbog over det Danske Sprog), muligvis under indflydelse af den italienske marmorhugningsterminologi. Formentlig henviser Bissen til en form for forudgående behandling af marmoret før selve udhugningen af statuen (om marmorhugning i almindelighed, se gerne under emneordet).

  11. At udføre noget “med Bil”, jf. Ordbog over det Danske Sprog, betydning 2, er at gøre noget dygtigt.

  12. Pietro Antonio Bienaimé was responsible for the carving of Christ, cf. A82, at Carrara. Together with Pius 7., cf. A142, Christ was executed at Carrara because of their size, which made transportation of the marble blocks to Rome difficult, cf. Thiele III, p. 318.

  13. Almost two months after Bissen’s visit to Carrara, 21.8.1828, Pietro Antonio Bienaimé was able to tell Thorvaldsen in a letter that Christ, cf. A82, was ready to be finished by Thorvaldsen.

  14. Thorvaldsen often left the rough carving of his works to his assistants and then applied the finishing touches himself, see the related article Thorvaldsen’s Workshop Practice.

  15. Bissen’s and Thorvaldsen’s friend, the Danish painter Johan Bravo.

  16. Here Bissen probably refers to a letter of recommendation from Thorvaldsen which might give him access to the more exclusive sights in Florence. In Italy, Thorvaldsen’s word was evidently sufficient recommendation for a young foreigner like Bissen.

  17. This may be the later judge Peter Carl Christian Holck (1802-1865), who was about the same age as the politician Christian Sehestedt Juul (see the following note).

  18. The said Juul is probably identical to the politician Christian Sehestedt Juul (1806-1861), who is also mentioned in P.O. Brøndsted’s letter to Thorvaldsen dated 10.3.1828.

  19. The letter appears to be misdated, see the general comment for a more detailed account.

Last updated 30.10.2017