The transportation process

The artworks are ready for shipment

By 1824, Thorvaldsen had put the finishing touches on many of the large commissions that he had received during his stay in Denmark in 1819-1820. The works that were then complete and ready for transportation back to Denmark included his commission for the Danish royal family, parts of his commission for Christiansborg Palace, as well as parts of his commission for The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

The prospect of bringing such a large number of Thorvaldsen’s artworks to Denmark was welcomed widely. Previously, only very few examples of the famous Dane’s works had been available for viewing in his native land. Now numerous Danes took to the sea—quite literally—to ensure the success of this shipment.

The king’s lines of command

When Prince Christian (8.) Frederik reported to King Frederik 6. that their large commissions from Thorvaldsen were ready for retrieval, Frederik 6. immediately ordered the Danish navy’s Admirality and Commissary College to land the brig St. Croix at either Naples or Leghorn, where it was to be loaded with crates containing Thorvaldsen’s artworks.

The brig St. Croix was at that point in the Danish West Indies, guarding the sea and trading lanes for travelers to and from Europe. The order by Frederik 6. dictated that the brig’s return trip via the Mediterranean include stays of no more than 14 days at each port of call, in order to minimize the costs of this “little” detour.

Captain Martinus Christian de Klauman and the Danish Governor-General of the Danish West Indies, Johan Frederik Bardenfleth, were informed of the new sailing orders at approximately the same time as Thorvaldsen learned—via letters from Christian Frederik and his private secretary Johan Gunder Adler—which artworks they wished him to send (though not all of these wishes were fulfilled), along with the expected time and place of the brig’s arrival.

From the Danish West Indies to Italy

Captain Klauman was requested to set sail from the Danish West Indies on March 1, 1825, and was expected to arrive in Italy five to six weeks later. The brig’s departure was delayed, however, because of pirate activity in the seas surrounding the Danish West Indies—a problem well-known to the many trade ships plying that route.

Klauman og Bardenfleth, however, chose to fight the pirates before departing—which took a good month and a half. Klauman finally set sail on 15.4.1825, reaching Naples on 3.6.1825 and Leghorn on 23.6.1825.

From Rome to Leghorn

The German-Danish sculptor Hermann Ernst Freund, who worked for Thorvaldsen in Rome, was asked by Prince Christian Frederik, via Johan Gunder Adler, to supervise the practical work of packing the many artworks in crates and transporting them from Rome to Leghorn.

The latter conveyance was done by water. The crates were sailed down the Tiber river to the harbor town of Ostia. From here they continued north to Leghorn, presumably on the coastal ship L’Anime del Purgatorio.

Freund, who had departed from Rome on 10.5.1825—out of sync with the brig’s altered schedule, which had changed on account of the pirates—already reached Leghorn on 25.5.1825. Here, with the help of the Danish consul general in Leghorn, J. C. Ulrich, Freund managed to deposit the crates for storage in a local warehouse. He then proceeded to Pisa and Florence in order to await the brig St. Croix, which, as mentioned, did not arrive in Leghorn until June 23, 1825.

The brig is loaded

The brig St. Croix was regrettably too small a ship to fit all of the 58 crates that Freund had brought from Rome. Among the types of ships then in use, naval warships were the largest, followed by frigates, corvettes, and barques. Brigs and schooners were among the smallest, as is evident from the number of cannons they carried. The brig St. Croix was loaded on 1.7.1825 with 52 crates. The crates containing Thorvaldsen’s delicate plaster casts were placed in the hold, while those carrying his more water-resistant marble works were placed on the deck in the open air, though sealed in impregnable burlap.

The crates that stayed behind

The remaining six crates were too large to fit through the hatch into the cargo hold, and so were returned to storage in the warehouse in Leghorn. Here they would remain to await the next shipment of artworks to Copenhagen, which took place three years later, in 1828. The contents of these six crates left behind were:

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
25 or no. 29	Cupid and the Graces, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A29	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
25 or no. 29	Jelizaveta Aleksejevna Osterman-Tolstaja, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A167	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
31, 34, or 36	Various reliefs	Unknown	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
53, 54, and/or 55 (two crates)	Hermann Ernst Freund, Mercury, plaster model	National Gallery of Denmark, inv. no. KMS5001	Building Commission for Christiansborg Palace
59	Private items	Unknown	Hans Christian Holten

In addition, Freund had to leave four additional crates behind in a warehouse in Rome. These included, among other things, plaster casts of the so-called Aeginans, restored by Thorvaldsen.

Jubilation in Copenhagen

Klauman set sail from Leghorn on 2.7.1825. On the same date, Freund sent a checked-off shipment manifest to Thorvaldsen. The brig St. Croix put in to port in Copenhagen’s harbor on 10.9.1825. The crates were then upacked, and Johan Gunder Adler reported to Thorvaldsen on 24.9.1825 that most of the artworks had arrived in good condition, with the exception of certain plaster casts, particularly the statue of Hebe, A39, which had suffered some damage.

The majority of the shipped artworks were displayed in an exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts in April 1826. Here a Danish audience could, for the first time—and with great jubilation—make direct acquaintance with a greater number of Thorvaldsen’s art.

Information about the shipment

Rome-Leghorn:	10.5.1825-25.5.1825
Departed Leghorn:	2.7.1825
Arrived Copenhagen:	10.9.1825
Ship:	The brig St. Croix
Captain:	Martinus Christian de Klauman
Crew members:	Chief mate Hans Fisker
Passengers:	–
Number of crates:	52
Shipment manifest:	2.7.1825
Documents related to the shipment:	Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks to Copenhagen 1825
Chronology:	Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks to Copenhagen 1825
Overview of all shipments to Copenhagen, 1798-1845:	Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks to Copenhagen

The artworks transported to Copenhagen

The artworks transported to Copenhagen have been identified by collating information from a variety of sources: partly from the correspondence surrounding the shipment, particularly the shipment manifest dated July 2, 1825; and partly from Fortegnelse over de ved det Kongelige Academie for de skjönne Kunster offentligen udstillede Kunstværker [List of Artworks Exhibited to the Public by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts], Copenhagen 1826, cat. nos. 144-183.
Nevertheless, certain obscurities remain.

For the Building Commission for Christiansborg Palace

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
1	Hercules and Hebe, marble version	Christiansborg Palace, cf. A317	Christiansborg Palace
2	Hygieia and Aesculapius, marble version	Christiansborg Palace, cf. A318	Christiansborg Palace
3	Minerva and Prometheus, marble version	Christiansborg Palace, cf. A319	Christiansborg Palace
4	Nemesis and Jupiter, marble version	Christiansborg Palace, cf. A320	Christiansborg Palace
16, 17, 18, and 19	Hermann Ernst Freund: The Apostle Luke, marble version	Christiansborg Palace Church	Christiansborg Palace Church

For Frederik 6.

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
Presumably 5	Frederik 6., marble version	A859	Frederik 6.
Presumably 6	Marie Sophie Frederikke, marble version	A860	Frederik 6.
Presumably 7	Caroline, marble version	A857	Frederik 6.
Presumably 8	Vilhelmine, marble version 1	The Royal Shooting Society, cf. A194	Frederik 6.
Presumably 8	Vilhelmine, marble version 2	Glücksburg Castle, cf. A194	Frederik 6.
Presumably 8	Frederik (7.), marble version	Rosenborg Castle, cf. A199	Frederik 6.
Presumably 9	Juliane Sophie, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A202	Frederik 6.
Presumably 10	Friedrich Wilhelm Carl Ludwig, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A201	Frederik 6.
12	Bertel Thorvaldsen, marble version	Academy of Fine Arts, Academy Council, inv. no. KS445, cf. A223	Gift of Hans West to Frederik 6.
37	Artist unknown: Augustus, 1701-1800	National Gallery of Denmark, inv. no. KMS5639	Gift by Hans West to Frederik 6., on the false assumption that it was a classical marble bust of the Roman emperor Tiberius

For Christian (8.) Frederik

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
38	C. A. Jensen: Copy of Raphael’s Madonna of Foligno	Ukendt	Christian Frederik
Presumably 39	Christian (8.) Frederik, marble version	Unknown, cf. presumably A197	Christian Frederik
Presumably 40	Caroline Amalie, marble version	Unknown, cf. presumably A716	Christian Frederik
Presumably 41	Christian 8’s Table Decoration	The Royal Danish Collections, Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen	Christian Frederik
Presumably 42	Christian 8’s Table Decoration	The Royal Danish Collections, Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen	Christian Frederik
Presumably 43	Christian 8’s Table Decoration	The Royal Danish Collections, Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen	Christian Frederik

For Caroline Amalie

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
Presumably 13	Possibly a still-unidentified copy of a classical bust	–	Caroline Amalie
Presumably 15	Possibly a still-unidentified copy of a classical bust	–	Caroline Amalie
Presumably 62	Vittoria Caldoni, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A279	Caroline Amalie

For the Academy of Fine Arts

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
20	Hebe, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A39	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
21	Cupid Triumphant, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A22	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
22	Cupid and Psyche, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A28	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
23	Venus with the Apple, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A12	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
24	Mercury About to Kill Argus, plaster cast (of the version without the hat)	Unknown, cf. A5	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
26	Georgiana Elizabeth Russell, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A173	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
27	Ganymede with Jupiter’s Eagle, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A45	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
28	Ganymede Filling the Cup, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A43	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
30	Shepherd Boy, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A177	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	The Graces Listening to Cupid’s Song, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A602	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	The Dance of the Muses on Helicon, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A341	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	Minerva, Truth and Lie, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A600	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	Monument to Auguste Böhmer, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A614,1	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	Monument to Auguste Böhmer, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A614,2	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	Monument to Auguste Böhmer, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A614,3	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	Nessus and Deianira, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A481	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	Cupid by Anacreon, Winter, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A415	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	Mercury brings Bacchus to Ino, plaster cast	Unknown, presumably cf. A347	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
32, 33, 35, 56, or 57	Unidentified monument, plaster cast	Unknown	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen

For private individuals

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
11	Henrik Hielmstierne, marble version	The Royal Library of Denmark, cf. A210	Agnete Marie Rosencrone
44	Caritas, marble version	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen, cf. A598	The seven children of Hans Henrik Gunnerus
45	Night, marble version	The Church of Holmen, Copenhagen, cf. A901	Jørgen Conrad de Falsen
46	Unknown reworking of The Genius of Death, marble version	Unknown	Jørgen Conrad de Falsen
47	Conrad Rantzau, marble version	Breitenburg Castle, Holstein, cf. A211	Conrad Rantzau
48	Cupid with the Lyre, marble version	Presumably Mežotne Palace, Bauska, Latvia, cf. A786	Conrad Rantzau
49	C. W. Eckersberg, marble version	A788	C. W. Eckersberg
49	Jacob Baden, marble version	A863	The heirs of Jacob Baden
50	Private items	Unknown	Just Mathias Thiele
51	Private items	Unknown	Just Mathias Thiele
52	Multiple sheets of the Italian graphic artist Luigi Rossini’s (1790-1857) graphic series of panoramas of Rome, Le antichità romane ossia raccolta delle più interessanti vedute di Roma antica [Roman Antiquities, or a Collection of the Most Interesting Views of Ancient Rome]	Unknown	Johan Gunder Adler
60	Private items	Unknown	J. L. Lund
61	Private items	Unknown	J. L. Lund
58	Private items	Unknown	“Madamme Capot”, presumably belonging to the widow of Johan Herman Cabott, namely, Maria Gertruda Pericoli

References

• H. Degenkolv: Oplysninger vedrørende den danske Flaades Skibe i sidste Aarhundrede, Copenhagen 1906, p. 30.

• Documents associated with the topic Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks to Copenhagen, 1825.

• Nanna Kronberg Frederiksen: Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Exhibitions, arkivet.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk, 2014.

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

• Fortegnelse over de ved det Kongelige Academie for de skjönne Kunster offentligen udstillede Kunstværker, Copenhagen 1826, cat. no. 144-183.

• N.L. Høyen: Om Thorvaldsen og hans Museum i Anledning af den udstædte Indbydelse, Copenhagen 1837.

• Ejner Johansson: ‘At tegne gips efter Thorvaldsen’, in: Meddelelser fra Thorvaldsens Museum, 2001, p. 139-153.

• List of transported works dated 2.7.1825, sent by Hermann Ernst Freund to Thorvaldsen.

• F. Meldahl: Kunstudstillingerne ved Det Kongelige Akademie for de Skjønne Kunster, Copenhagen 1906, p. 58.

• Just Mathias Thiele III: Thorvaldsen i Rom. 1819-1839, Copenhagen 1854, p. 223, pp. 251-54.

• Frederik Weilbach: ‘C.F. Hansens Christiansborg, af Slotsbygningskommissionens Papirer’, Fra Arkiv og Museum, serie 2, bind 2, hefte 2-3, Copenhagen 1935, p. 130.

Works referred to

Last updated 26.03.2023