Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Residencies

• Nanna Kronberg Frederiksen, arkivet.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk, 2014
• Translation by David Possen

• This article presents a list of the artists and professors residing in the faculty housing of the Academy of Fine Arts in Charlottenborg Palace, Copenhagen, between 1754 and 1883.

Thorvaldsen’s residence

When Thorvaldsen was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen in 1805^I, he was simultaneously awarded free faculty housing in Charlottenborg Palace^II. Thorvaldsen’s professorial apartment, which looked out upon what was then Copenhagen’s Botanical Garden, remained available to him for 39 years. It thereby functioned as a standing invitation^III for the sculptor to return to Denmark from Rome where he maintained the desire to live and work. It was only during his stay in Denmark in 1819-1820^IV, and after his return to his homeland in 1838^V, that Thorvaldsen actually took up residence^VI in Charlottenborg Palace.

This article provides a list of the other artists and professors residing in the Academy of Fine Arts’ faculty housing in Charlottenborg Palace between 1754 and 1883. Most of these residents knew Thorvaldsen quite well, and kept him informed about developments in Copenhagen’s artistic milieu^VII.

Methodology

• ​Torkel Baden
• J. P. Møller
• Christian Hornbech
• J. L. Jensen
• C. A. Jensen
• C. W. Eckersberg
• J. L. Lund
• G. F. Hetsch
• Just Mathias Thiele

The floor plan’s synchronic sample of the Charlottenborg Palace residencies at one particular point in time also makes it possible to establish their diachronic history—that is, to determine which visiting artists or Academy professors moved in or out of the Palace before or after the nine named above—simply because many such moves are discussed in detail in certain letters^X preserved in the Archives.

The floor plan has been published here with permission from the Danish National Art Library, and serves—here as in both Smidt, op. cit., and Zahle, op. cit.—as a benchmark for determining the physical locations of interior paintings made during the period (see below).

Abbreviations used

The floor plan of Charlottenborg Palace labels each of the building’s many rooms, apartments, and classrooms by letters or numbers. These labels, which have been preserved in the present article, are as follows:

• The upper floor (Ø) of Charlottenborg Palace, including apartments a, b, c, d, and e;
• The main floor (H) of Charlottenborg Palace, including classrooms 1-18;
• The ground floor (S) of Charlottenborg Palace, including apartments f, g, h, i, and k; and
• The basement (K) of Charlottenborg Palace, including rooms attached to apartments f, g, i, and k.

• Censuses, Danish Demographic Database (abbreviated FT, from the Danish term Folketælling [Census]).
• Copenhagen City Directories 1770-1895 (abbreviated KV, from the Danish title Københavns Vejviser [Copenhagen’s Directory]).

Floor plan of Charlottenborg Palace

North (Øc, Ød, Øe) South (Øa, Øb)
Fig. 1. Plan of the upper floor (Ø) of Charlottenborg Palace, showing apartments a-e,
© Danish National Art Library.

North South
Fig. 2. Plan of the main floor (H) of Charlottenborg Palace, showing rooms 1-18,
© Danish National Art Library.

North (Si, Sk) South (Sf, Sg)
Fig. 3. Plan of the ground floor (S) of Charlottenborg Palace, showing apartments f-k, © Danish National Art Library. Thorvaldsen’s professorial apartment, marked in grey, was in Sg.

North South
Fig. 4. Plan of the ground floor of Charlottenborg Palace, detail, © Danish National Art Gallery. Shows the southeast wing, including Thorvaldsen’s residence, workshop, and museum (Sg, Sh, and part of Si, marked in grey), following its expansion in 1833.

North South
Fig. 5. Plan of the basement (K) of Charlottenborg Palace,
© Danish National Art Library.

Dating and possible origins of the floor plan

By examining the information available about the nine persons listed on the floor plan as residing in Charlottenborg Palace, it is possible to date the floor plan to the period from 1846 until no later than February 9, 1849. This is because:

• J. L. Jensen and C. A. Jensen both moved into Charlottenborg Palace after 1845^XI.

• Torkel Baden, who is listed as living in Øa, died on 9.2.1849^XII.

• J. L. Lund is listed as living in Sg, in rooms that formed part of Thorvaldsen’s professorial apartment in the years 1805-1844. During the period from 1820 onward, and presumably until 1838^XIII, the apartment was rented out to Lund; and after the end of Thorvaldsen’s period of residence at the Academy (and his death on 24.3.1844^XIV), Lund was again given the opportunity to reside there. Because Lund was listed as domiciled at the Academy in 1850, but not in 1845—nor in 1855^XV, it can be assumed that he moved into Sg during 1846^XVI, and out again in 1854—the same year when the Danish painter Niels Simonsen^XVII moved into the apartment.

The floor plan was presumably drafted by either Christian Hornbech or G. F. Hetsch, the two architects resident in Charlottenborg during the period in question. It seems plausible that the commission for mapping the Palace’s internal heating system would have gone to one of these two residents, as both were closely familiar with the building.

Hetsch was a profilic architect who collaborated with C. F. Hansen, among others, on the design and construction of Christiansborg Palace. Hornbech, meanwhile, earned his keep primarily as a renovator and inspector of previously existing buildings. As Royal Building Master, Hornbech also bore responsibility for Charlottenborg Palace^XVIII, and so it seems overwhelmingly likely that it was Hornbech who drafted this floor plan, which specifies the types and locations of tile stoves in the palace.

The floor plan can thus be assigned the following date and attribution:

Christian Hornbech, Floor Plan of Christiansborg Palace, between 1846 and 1848,
Danish National Art Gallery, Copenhagen.

Persons resident in Charlottenborg Palace between 1754 and 1883

Other residents of Charlottenborg Palace whose specific housing allotment remains unidentified:

• Peder Als (from before 1770 until 1776^LVI)
• J. M. Preisler (from before 1770 until 1794^LVII)
• Johan Edvard Mandelberg (presumably 1774-1786^LVIII)
• Nicolai Abildgaard (presumably 1788-1810) (Sf?)
• C. F. Høyer (from after 1816 until 1826^LIX),
• T. Kloss presumably in Øb or Øc (1855-1876^LX)
• Christian Hansen (from 1866, presumably until 1883)
• Jørgen Roed (1869-1888) resident in both ground floor and upper floor apartments
• Ferdinand Meldahl (1876-1908)
• Jørgen V. Sonne (1885-1890)
• Julius Exner (1889-1910)
• Th. Stein (1883-1901^LXI)
• Martin Nyrop (1907-1921?)

Interior views of Charlottenborg Palace

H 1 The Antique Room

Ditlev Martens, The Antique Room at the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, 1824, B259.

Peter Herman Rasmussen, Antique Hall at Charlottenborg, 1837, private collection.

Julius Exner, The Plaster Cast Collection in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, 1843, Statens Museum for Kunst [National Gallery of Denmark], inv. no. KMS3110.

H Southern Cabinet and Passageway

Unknown artist, Southern Corner Cabinet with Venus de Milo in the Antique Room of the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, 1840?, private collection.

Adam Müller, Parti af Antiksalen på Charlottenborg, 1830

Christen Købke, View of the Plaster Cast Collection at Charlottenborg Palace, 1830,
The Hirschsprung Collection.

Presumably H 4

Wilhelm Bendz, The Life Class at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, 1826, Statens Museum for Kunst, inv. no. KMS54.

H 9, The Domed Hall

C. W. Eckersberg, View From the Domed Hall at Charlottenborg Palace in Copenhagen, 1845, Statens Museum for Kunst, inv. no. KKS4742.

H 17

Ferdinand Richardt, A Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts, ca. 1839, B284.

H 18 Northern Cabinet and Passageway

Unknown artist, Young Man Drawing Among Thorvaldsen’s Artworks at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, after 1829, private collection.

Unknown artist, Young Man Drawing a Nude Model Among Thorvaldsen’s Artworks at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, after 1825, unknown location.

Sf

C.W. Eckersberg: Interior from the Artist’s Residence at Charlottenborg. Thorvaldsen’s relief A Genio Lumen, cf. A517, above the door.

Sg

Ferdinand Richardt, Thorvaldsen in his Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, 1840, B285.

Sh

J. V. Gertner, Thorvaldsen’s Studio in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, 1836,
Statens Museum for Kunst, inv. no. KMS296.

Peter Julius Larsen, Interior from the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, with Works by Thorvaldsen, 1837, B452. Sh viewed from Si.

Sk

Martinus Rørbye: C.A. Lorentzen in his Studio, before 1828.

Exterior views from Charlottenborg

East Wing

Presumably Ferdinand Richardt, The Botanical Garden with Thorvaldsen, ca. 1840, private collection.

South Wing

F. Sødring, The Rear Courtyard of Charlottenborg Palace, 1828, Statens Museum for Kunst, inv. no. KMS7442.

North Wing

C. W. Eckersberg, View of Charlottenborg and the Gardener’s Lodge of the Botanical Gardens, Seen from the North Side of Nyhavn, 1845, Statens Museum for Kunst, inv. no. KKS7918.

References

• Documents associated with the topic: Academy of Arts, Copenhagen, Residencies.

• Documents associated with the topic: Academy of Arts, Copenhagen, Thorvaldsen’s Residence.

• Censuses, Danish Demographic Database (abbreviated FT, from the Danish term Folketælling [Census]).

• Nanna Kronberg Frederiksen: Thorvaldsen’s Residence, Workshop, and Museum in the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, arkivet.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk, 2014.

• Nanna Kronberg Frederiksen: Thorvaldsen’s Four Prototype Museums in Copenhagen, arkivet.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk, 2014.

• Anneli Fuchs og Emma Salling (eds.): Kunstakademiet, 1754-2004, vol. III, 2004.

• Floor Plan of Charlottenborg Palace, undated, Danish National Art Library.

• Copenhagen City Directories 1770-1895 (abbreviated KV, from the Danish title Københavns Vejviser [Copenhagen’s Directory]).

• Claus M. Smidt: ‘Et blad af Charlottenborgs bygningshistorie’, in: Pontus Kjerrman, Bjørn Nørgaard, Jan Zahle, Jens Bertelsen (eds.): Spejlinger i gips, Copenhagen 2004.

• Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon.

• Jan Zahle: ‘Antiksalen, Figursalen, Museet’, in: Pontus Kjerrman, Bjørn Nørgaard, Jan Zahle, Jens Bertelsen (eds.): Spejlinger i gips, Copenhagen 2004.

Commentaries

1. Thorvaldsen was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, on 7.6.1805.

2. Academy of Fine Arts, Charlottenborg Palace, Kongens Nytorv 1, Copenhagen, cadaster no. 271.

3. In the numerous letters urging Thorvaldsen to come to Denmark, his free professor’s apartment is mentioned frequently as the asset which—together with the promise of abundant Danish commissions—would supposedly convince Thorvaldsen to move back to Denmark of his own accord. See the documents associated with the topic Requests to Come to Denmark Until 1819 and ditto for the period 1820-1838.

4. See the Related Article on Thorvaldsen’s Sojourn in Denmark 1819-1820.

5. See the Archives’ Thorvaldsen chronology, under the date 17.9.1838.

6. For more on this, see the Related Article on Thorvaldsen’s Residence, Workshop, and Museum in the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen.

7. See the documents in the Archives associated with the topic Artistic Environment in Copenhagen.

8. I would like to thank Claus M. Smidt of the Danish National Art Library for referring me to this floor plan.

9. Cf. figs. 1 and 3, as well as the markings in grey in the list below.

10. See the documents in the Archives associated with the topic Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Residencies.

11. Cf. KV-1845, where J. L. Jensen is listed as residing at Købmagergade 78A, while C. A. Jensen is registered at Nørregade 36-37.

12. Baden, cf. Den Store Danske.

13. See the Archives’ biography of J. L. Lund, section 6.2.

14. See the Archives’ Thorvaldsen chronology, under the date 24.3.1844.

15. Lund, cf. FT-1850, FT-1845, KV-1845, and FT-1855.

16. Perhaps not even until 1848, when Thorvaldsens Museum opened, and all of the sculptor’s works and effects were presumably moved into the building at last.

17. The Danish painter Niels Simonsen (1807-1885).

18. Cf. Smidt, op. cit., p. 72.

19. Cf. Fuchs and Salling, op. cit., p. 172. Pilo was also assigned the painting studio on the main floor in rooms 17 and 18.

20. Cf. Fuchs and Salling, op. cit., p. 172.

21. Cf. KV-1770 and Smidt, op. cit., p. 69.

22. Harsdorff, cf. KV-1780 and Smidt, op. cit., p. 69.

23. Weidenhaupt, cf. KV-1775 and KV-1780. See also the letters from Abildgaard, dated 31.1.1805, from the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, dated 15.6.1805, and from C. F. Stanley, dated 18.6.1805.

24. Müller moved into Charlottenborg in 1772; cf. Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon [Weilbach’s Biographical Dictionary of Artists].
    Letters from Christian (8.) Frederik, dated 28.12.1816, 20.2.1817, and 9.3.1817, indicate that after W. A. Müller’s death in 1816, his apartment was subdivided into two parts, which were given to C. D. Fritzsch and Christian Hornemann. Given the distribution of rooms in the floor plan, these rooms must have been Ød and Øe.

25. Cf. Fuchs and Salling, op. cit., p. 174.

26. Juel, cf. Smidt, op. cit., p. 69.

27. Magens, cf. Smidt, op. cit., p. 69.

28. Cf. Christian Horneman, 4.5.1829.

29. This apartment was assigned to Thorvaldsen throughout the period from his appointment to a professorship in 7.6.1805 until his death on 24.3.1844. Nevertheless, it was rented out to others during much of this period, because Thorvaldsen was in Rome. For more on this, see the Related Article on Thorvaldsen’s Residence, Workshop, and Museum in the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen.

30. Thorvaldsen’s apartment, but evidently not his workshop, was rented out, presumably to Torkel Baden, and likely for the period 1805-1818, inasmuch as Baden had already been hired as the Academy’s secetary in 1804; cf.:

    • Letter dated 24.8.1818 from Christian (8.) Frederik to C. F. Hansen
    • Letter dated 28.8.1818 from Christian (8.) Frederik to C. F. Hansen
      
      

31. The apartment on the main floor (H) was closed for residence in 1811; cf. Fuchs and Salling, op. cit., p. 172, along with Smidt, op. cit., p. 69.

32. Hansen, 1815; cf. Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon [Weilbach’s Biographical Dictionary of Artists], Christian Horneman, 4.5.1829.

33. Clemens, cf.:

    • Letter dated 21.3.1816 from Christian (8.) Frederik to C. F. Hansen
    • Letter dated 26.5.1816 from Christian (8.) Frederik to C. F. Hansen
    • KV-1830
    • Letter dated 8.10.1833 from the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen to Thorvaldsen

    
    Clemens evidently lived elsewhere in Charlottenborg Palace before moving to Si.

34. Horneman, cf. Christian (8.) Frederik, letters dated
    21.3.1816, 28.12.1816, 23.1.1817, 20.2.1817, and 9.3.1817, as well as KV-1830.

35. Fritzsch, cf. Christian (8.) Frederik, letters dated 21.3.1816, 28.12.1816, 23.1.1817, and 20.2.1817. On the 1817 start date, see Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon [Weilbach’s Biographical Dictionary of Artists] and FT-1840 (search for Detlev Fritzsch).

36. J.P. Møller apparently borrowed Thorvaldsen’s workshop before the latter arrived in Copenhagen 1819-1820. Cf. letters from Christian (8.) Frederik to C.F. Hansen dated:

    • 4.6.1814
    • 28.12.1816
    • 23.1.1817
    • 20.2.1817
    • 9.3.1817
    • 8.11.1819

37. Eckersberg, cf. Fuchs and Salling, op. cit., p. 205, together with the Plan of the Ground Floor of Charlottenborg Palace (fig. 3).

38. Baden, cf. KV-1830, as well as the Plan of the Upper Floor of Charlottenborg Palace (fig. 1).

39. Hornbech, not in KV-1815-1816, but rather in KV-1819-1820, KV-1825, KV-1830, FT-1840, FT-1845, and FT-1850 (search for “Hornb” and “Hor?”), as well as in the Plan of the Upper Floor of Charlottenborg Palace (fig. 1).

40. Thorvaldsen lived at Charlottenborg Palace during his sojourn in Denmark from 3.10.1819 until 11.8.1820.

41. Lund lived in Thorvaldsen’s professorial apartment after the latter returned to Rome. Cf.:

    • The Archives’ biography of J. L. Lund
    • KV-1830
    • KV-1835
      
      

42. Møller, cf. Christian Horneman, letter dated 4.5.1829, and the Plan of the Upper Floor of Charlottenborg Palace (fig. 1).

43. Thiele, cf. Fuchs and Salling, op. cit., p. 212, Christian Horneman, letter dated 4.5.1829, and the Plan of the Ground Floor of Charlottenborg Palace (fig. 3).

44. Sg was extended to include Sh and part of Si in order to make room for artworks sent home by Thorvaldsen. The resulting gallery was then opened to public view. See also the Related Article Thorvaldsen’s Residence, Workshop, and Museum in the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen.

45. Hetsch evidently took over Si in 1833, after part of the room had been incorporated into Thorvaldsen’s workshop/museum. Hetsch is listed on the Plan of the Ground Floor of Charlottenborg Palace (fig. 3), as well as in FT-1840, FT-1845, and FT-1850.

46. While Thorvaldsen was officially resident at Charlottenborg from his arrival in Copenhagen on 17.9.1838 until his death on 24.3.1844, in reality he lived for long stretches at Nysø and in Italy. See also the Related Article Thorvaldsen’s Residence, Workshop, and Museum in the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen.

47. Jensen. Not in KV-1845 (Købmagergade 78), but rather in the Plan of the Upper Floor of Charlottenborg Palace, Danish National Art Library (fig. 1), as well as in FT-1850.

48. Jensen. Not in KV-1845 (Nørregade 36-37), but rather in the Plan of the Upper Floor of Charlottenborg Palace, Danish National Art Library (fig. 1), as well as in FT-1850 and KV-1850.

49. While Lund is not registered as residing in Charlottenborg Palace in KV-1840 (Bredgade 174a), in KV-1845 (Bredgade 174a), or in FT-1855, he is so recorded in the Plan of the Ground Floor of Charlottenborg Palace (fig. 3) and in FT-1850.

50. Cf. Plan of the Ground Floor of Charlottenborg Palace, Danish National Art Library (fig. 3).

51. Marstrand, cf. Fuchs and Salling, op. cit., p. 206.

52. Simonsen, cf. Fuchs og Salling, op. cit., p. 210.

53. Troels Lund, 1865; cf. Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon [Weilbach’s Biographical Dictionary of Artists].

54. Kiærskou, 1867; cf. Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon [Weilbach’s Biographical Dictionary of Artists].

55. Starting in 1883, the professorial apartments were gradually converted into classrooms; cf. Fuchs and Salling, op. cit., p. 176 and p. 178.

56. Als, cf. KV-1770, KV-1775.

57. Preisler, cf. KV-1770, KV-1775, KV-1780.

58. Mandelberg, cf. KV-1775, KV-1780.

59. Høyer was dismissed from the Academy and lost his housing allotment in 1826. Not in KV-1815-1816, but rather in KV-1819-1820 and KV-1825. See also Christian Horneman, letter dated 4.5.1829.

60. Kloss, 1855; cf. Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon [Weilbach’s Biographical Dictionary of Artists].

61. Th. Stein lived at first in “the mezzanine facing Nyhavn for one year, and thereafter in the professorial apartment”; cf. Billedhugger Th. Steins Erindringer 1829-1901 [Memoirs of the Sculptor Th. Stein, 1829-1901], p. ?

Last updated 29.06.2019