The Thorvaldsens Museum Archives

Comment on 17.1.1804

Thorvaldsen’s marble copy of a bust of Raphael, the Renaissance painter, executed by the sculptor Pietro Paolo Baldini (also known as Naldini, ca. 1605-1650). In 1674, the original was placed on Raphael’s tomb in the Pantheon, also known as la Rotonda. Together with the other busts in the Pantheon, the bust was moved to the Capitol in 1820, and the collection was named La Protomoteca Capitolina, the Capitoline portrait galleri. See Cataloghi dei Musei comunali di Roma, V, La Protomoteca Capitolina, Rome 1955, p. 11-12, 80. Thorvaldsen’s copy of the bust was acquired at the auction in 1850 after Abildgaard’s widow and is now in Thorvaldsens Museum, A752.

Last updated 22.01.2018