Comment on 22.4.1801
It is uncertain what group Thorvaldsen is referring to here. However, Thiele I, p. 165 suggests either Mars and Venus or, more likely, Achilles and Penthesilea, which today exists in a smaller sketch, A777. Thiele I, p. 166 writes: “Whatever the group may have represented, it seems certain that it never got any further than the sketch.” We have no other evidence to contradict this claim though Thorvaldsen here writes that the work is intended to be executed / is being executed “in full size”.
He may, however, have made the sculpture group in full size but later destroyed the clay model because he was dissatisfied with it, or because he did not have the money to have it cast in plaster as was the case with Jason, cf. above.
Last updated 24.02.2015