The transportation process

This 1828 shipment to Copenhagen of numerous commissioned works by Thorvaldsen has a relatively complex history, involving correspondence among a number of participants over a period of several years. This article begins with an attempt to summarize the entire affair. Following this, a list is provided of the individual artworks included in the shipment.

A frigate to accommodate the commissioners’ many wishes

In 1826, the architect C.F. Hansen was putting the finishing touches on two grand, prestigious structures in Copenhagen—The Church of Our Lady and Christiansborg Palace—which he had been appointed to rebuild after they had burned down in 1807 and 1794, respectively. Thorvaldsen’s contribution was all that was needed before important events could take place in each building: the dedication of the rebuilt Church, and—in the rebuilt Palace—the wedding of the king’s youngest daughter, Princess Vilhelmine, to her betrothed, Prince Frederik (7.).

Having learned from the experience of the previous shipment in 1825, when the brig St. Croix turned out to be too small to fit all of Thorvaldsen’s crates, King Frederik 6. decided to send a larger ship—a frigate—to the Mediterranean this time. Thorvaldsen was informed about the frigate’s progress in good time, and received long lists of the artworks that he was desired to produce and include in the shipment. Of these, the most important were Christ for the church, and the Alexander Frieze, along with two caryatids, for the palace—all in marble.

When Thorvaldsen had no choice but to reply with the disappointing news that neither the Christ statue nor the Alexander frieze would be completed in marble in time for the shipment—which was then planned for the spring of 1827—Frederik 6. first chose to postpone the frigate’s journey until the spring of 1828. He simultaneously commanded the Building Commissions for both the Church of Our Lady and Christiansborg Palace to obtain a report by Thorvaldsen listing the artworks that would in fact be complete in time for the frigate’s new 1828 arrival date.

A tribute ship for the Bey of Tunis

C.F. Hansen was by this point over seventy years old, and expressed great unease about the possibility of dying before experiencing the completion of his architectural masterworks. Of these, the Church of Our Lady—a “spiritual art museum” of Thorvaldsen’s works—weighed foremost on C.F. Hansen’s mind: he was determined not to dedicate the church without Thorvaldsen’s Christ. As a result, when a new mode of transporting Thorvaldsen’s works suddenly appeared, C.F. Hansen lobbied strongly to take advantage of it, in part by pressing the Building Commissions for both the Church of Our Lady and Christiansborg Palace to join in covering the costs of shipment.

The merchant vessel Therese was supposed to sail to Tunisia in the autumn of 1827, with a cargo of “gifts” for the ruling Bey of Tunis. Despite the terminology, these “gifts” were in truth a tribute payment, which Denmark had committed to pay annually in order to avoid pirate attacks on Danish merchant vessels. After completing its mission, the merchant ship would be free to dock at Leghorn in order to be loaded with Thorvaldsen’s artworks.

Both Building Commissions accepted this solution, on condition that the shipment be a full one, containing at minimum Thorvaldsen’s Christ (in plaster), the twelve apostles (in plaster), two candelabra (in marble) and the two caryatids (in marble). The caryatids were crucial, in the view of the Building Commission for Christiansborg Palace, as they were to flank the Palace’s throne on the occasion of the upcoming wedding of Princess Vilhelmine and Prince Frederik on November 1, 1828.

From Rome to Leghorn—in Purgatory

It was now up to Thorvaldsen to ship the completed artworks from Rome to Leghorn. The practical labor involved was undertaken by Thorvaldsen’s assistant, the sculptor Hermann Ernst Freund, who had done the same for previous shipment, in 1825. Freund hired the Italian skipper Francesco Lami, who shipped 64 crates containing Thorvaldsen’s artworks to Leghorn with his coastal vessel, L’Anime del Purgatorio (The Souls of Purgatory). For unknown reasons, however, Lami’s ship departed Rome rather late, namely, just before Christmas Eve. This gave rise to a certain nervousness in Copenhagen about whether Thorvaldsen’s crates would reach the merchant vessel Therese, then already in quarantine in Leghorn, on time.

Because of poor weather, the journey from Rome to Leghorn was rather turbulent. On the last stage of the trip, from Elba to Leghorn, the skipper Lami was barely able to dock the ship safely in the harbor without serious damage.

For Freund himself, the journey was not only physically turbulent, but emotionally tempestuous as well. After ten years in Rome, Freund was to leave his “true home” and travel on to Denmark, where a position as professor of sculpture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts awaited him. Despite the prospect of a permanent position, however, Freund was disillusioned. He was poor, and in the preceding years he had not obtained the commissions or opportunities for artistic development for which he had hoped. In Rome Freund had stagnated, so to speak, in his role as Thorvaldsen’s assistant, with all of the responsibilities involved—including such troublesome travels as Thorvalden’s courier. Now he was to leave Rome, driven by a “cold and unfeeling power,” and proceed to Denmark, where the only future awaiting him was “the grave.”

Despite both his melancholy and the “driving rains,” Freund did manage to load a total of 70 crates containing Thorvaldsen’s artworks onto the ship on 11.1.1828. The downtrodden sculptor was then offered a passenger’s seat on the merchant vessel Therese, but Freund had no wish to return to Denmark “like a barrel of sugar.” Instead, Freund chose to continue his journey on foot, on a nine-month tour that brought him to Copenhagen via Florence, Paris, and Berlin.

From Leghorn to Copenhagen

The merchant vessel Therese sailed from Leghorn in February 1828. It arrived in Copenhagen in April 1828—fast enough that it was possible to include Thorvaldsen’s artworks in the Academy of Fine Arts’ exhibitions in 1828 and 1829.

Information about the shipment

Rome-Leghorn:	21.12.1827-4.1.1828
Departed Leghorn:	February 1828
Arrived Copenhagen:	April 1828
Ship:	The merchant vessel Therese
Captain:	Schröder
Crew members:	–
Passengers:	–
Number of crates:	70
Shipment manifest:	none
Documents related to the shipment:	Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks to Copenhagen 1828
Chronology:	Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks to Copenhagen 1828
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 and listed below have been identified partly from the correspondence surrounding the shipment, and partly from the Academy of Fine Arts’ two exhibition catalogues:

• Tillæg til Fortegnelsen over de ved det Kongelige Akademie for de skjönne Kunster i Aaret 1828 offentligen udstillede Kunstværker [Appendix to the List of Artworks Exhibited to the Public by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the Year 1828], Copenhagen 1828.

• Fortegnelse over de ved det Kongelige Akademie for de skjönne Kunster offentligen udstillede Kunstværker [List of Artworks Exhibited to the Public by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts], Copenhagen 1829.

For the Building Commission for the Church of Our Lady

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
–	Christ, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A82	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	Peter, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A86	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	Matthew, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A87	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	John, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A89	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	James the Less, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A91	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	Philip, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A93	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	Thomas, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A96	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	James the Greater, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A98	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	Bartholomew, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A99	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	Simon Zelotes, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A101	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	Paul, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A103	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	Jude Thaddaeus, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A105	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
–	Andrew, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A108	Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen

For the Building Commission for Christiansborg Palace

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
–	Caryatids, marble versions	Destroyed, cf. A55 and A56	Christiansborg Palace
–	Hermann Ernst Freund, Mercury, plaster model	Danish National Gallery, inv. no. KMS5001	–

For the Academy of Fine Arts

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
–	Plaster casts of the Aeginans restored by Thorvaldsen	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Cupid and the Graces, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A911	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Jelizaveta Aleksejevna Osterman-Tolstaja, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A167	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Dancing Girl, plaster cast	Presumably identical to A179	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Night, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A369	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Day, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A370	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Cupid with a Swan and Boys picking Fruit, Summer, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A411	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Cupid and Bacchus, Autumn, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A413	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Cupid Revives Psyche, plaster cast	Unknown, presumably cf. A431	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Cupid and Bacchus, plaster cast	Unknown, presumably cf. A408	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	A genio lumen (The Genius of Art and Light), plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A518	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Christ at Emmaus, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A562	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Alexander the Great in the Triumphal Chariot, ceramic, half-size	Unknown, presumably cf. A504	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Two plaster casts modeled after classical candelabra	Unknown	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
–	Two plaster casts modeled after classical statues	Unknown	Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen

For private individuals

Crate no.	Artwork, Material	Owner	Previous Owner
–	Private items	Unknown	Hans Christian Holten
–	Portrait bust of J.C. Dahl, plaster cast	Unknown, cf. A229	J.C. Dahl
–	Portrait bust of J.C. Dahl, marble version	Art Museums of Bergen, Norway, cf. A229	J.C. Dahl

References

• Documents related to the topic Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks to Copenhagen 1828.

• Nanna Kronberg Frederiksen: Barbary States and Thorvaldsen, arkivet.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk, 2014.

• Nanna Kronberg Frederiksen: Transportation of Thorvaldsen’s Artworks to Copenhagen 1825, arkivet.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk, 2013.

• Victor Freund: Hermann Ernst Freunds levned, Copenhagen 1883, p. 142-152.

• Fortegnelse over de ved det Kongelige Akademie for de skjönne Kunster offentligen udstillede Kunstværker, Copenhagen 1829, cat. nos. 190-191.

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

• Just Mathias Thiele: Thorvaldsen i Rom. 1819-1839, III, Copenhagen 1854, p. 289-324, 463.

• Tillæg til Fortegnelsen over de ved det Kongelige Akademie for de skjönne Kunster i Aaret 1828 offentligen udstillede Kunstværker, Copenhagen 1828, cat. nos. 203-214.

• Frederik Weilbach: ‘C.F. Hansens Christiansborg, af Slotsbygningskommissionens Papirer’, Fra Arkiv og Museum, serie 2, bind 2, hefte 2-3, Copenhagen 1935, p. 138-140.

Works referred to

Last updated 08.02.2017