Comment on Flora Italica. When an Italian Flowery Meadow Visited Thorvaldsens Museum
The anecdote about Thorvaldsen’s birth on board a ship, which is cited by the sculptor Pierre-Jean David d’Angers (1788-1856) among others, may have its origin in the writings of the author Friederike Brun (1765-1835). See Schmidt 1818. The notion that he is descended from three Norse kings (Icelandic Mir-Kiartan, Swedish Ingvald, and Danish Harald Hildetand) stems from a genealogical table constructed by the philologist Finnur Magnússon (1781-1847).
Last updated 17.09.2020