The Thorvaldsens Museum Archives

Comment on 20.3.1802

In letter of 3.12.1799 Abildgaard asked for three volumes of the catalogue of the part of the Vatican collection which is in the so-called Museo Pio-Clementino, established by the popes Clement XIV (1769-1774) and Pius VI (1775-1799). The title of the catalogue is: Il Museo Pio-Clementino, descritto da Giambattista e Ennio Qvirino Visconti, T. I-VI, Roma 1782-96, (copy in Thorvaldsens Museum, M134).
In two letters of 4.4.1800 and 24.10.1800, Thorvaldsen had written that he could not afford to lay out the money to buy the three volumes. As seen below, he did buy the catalogues in the end and sent them to Copenhagen by ship from Leghorn. See the related article about Transportation of Crates.

Last updated 30.04.2015