No. 2749 of 10318
Sender Date Recipient
Sydney Morgan 1821 [+]

Dating based on

Dateringen fremgår af bogen, hvorfra citatet er taget, op. cit. Selve besøget i Thorvaldsens værksted har dog fundet sted 1819-1820, jf. den generelle kommentar.

Omnes
Abstract

Extract from Lady Morgan’s book Italy mentioning Thorvaldsen’s workshops.

[...] Amidst the rubbish, ruins, and fragments, which fill up the court and avenues of the palace of the Barberini, lie some of the most distinguished studii of Rome; some, I believe, occupying the very out-houses raised for the workmen who built that ponderous edifice in former ages, when the Coliseum was plundered for its erection. Among these, the work-shop of the CAVALIERE THORWALDSON is the most attractive, though the quick demand for his exquisite productions leaves but few of his works on hand. His basso-relievos are his finest efforts; particularly his splendid model of the Triumph of Alexander, bespoke by Napoleon for the facade of the Quirinal, whose own triumphs were at an end before the work was finished. The heads, and, above all, that of the conqueror himself, taken from his bust in the Capitol, are most striking. A plaster cast of this basso-relievo was put up in the Quirinal, and a copy in marble was, I believe, purchased by Monsieur Sommariva, of Paris, decidedly the most munificent patron of the arts in Europe. [...]

General Comment

Citatet er hentet fra Lady Sydney Morgan: Italy, Paris 1821, vol II, p. 393-394. Kun de dele, der omtaler Thorvaldsen, er medtaget.


Da Morgan besøgte Thorvaldsens værksted under sin research til bogen 1819-1820, var billedhuggeren i Danmark. Hun kan altså ikke have mødt ham personligt ved denne lejlighed, og det vides ikke, hvornår og hvordan han siden har fået bogen, der endnu findes i hans bogsamling i tysk oversættelse, M611. Den tyske udgave er forkortet ift. den engelske og indeholder ingen omtale af Thorvaldsens værksteder. Læs evt. mere herom og om en tegning, hun ifølge den danske forfatter H.C. Andersen skulle have fået af Thorvaldsen i Morgans biografi.

Thiele
Ikke omtalt hos Thiele.
Subjects
Alexander Frieze, Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome · Alexander Frieze, Villa Carlotta, Tremezzo · Patriarch of the Bas-Relief · Thorvalden's Assistants · Thorvaldsen's Dilligence · Thorvaldsen's Workshops · Thorvaldsen's Workshops, Visits to · Thorvaldsen's Workshop Practice
Persons
Francesco Barberini · Napoleon 1. · Giovanni Battista Sommariva · Bertel Thorvaldsen
Works
Last updated 21.04.2020 Print