The Thorvaldsens Museum Archives

Comment on 4.4.1800

Thorvaldsen’s bust of Raphael, A752. The bust is a free version of the sculptor Pietro Paolo Baldini’s (also known as Naldini) (ca. 1605-1650) bust of Raphael, which in 1674 was placed on the painter’s tomb in the Pantheon in Rome. Thorvaldsen’s bust is Hermæan, and the painter is shown without clothing. Baldini’s portrait bust, on the other hand, shows a large part of the chest dressed in contemporary clothes and mounted on a round base.
Thorvaldsen’s bust of Raphael remained with Abildgaard after its arrival in Copenhagen and was not acquired by Thorvaldsens Museum until the auction in 1850 after the death of Abildgaard’s widow.

Last updated 20.01.2015