Bertel Thorvaldsen
Rom
Poul Scheel
København
Brevudkastet må være konciperet efter Scheels brev 23.11.1808, som nævnes i brevudkastet.
Draft of a letter in which Thorvaldsen explains to Doctor Poul Scheel that the bust he commissioned has been finished for a long time.
De har fulkomen Ret gode Ven at være fortørnet paa mig at jeg ikke har opfyldt min Pligt at besvare Deres Brev af 23 NovI og ennu mere da De deraf maa troe at jeg ikke har begyndt paa Sal. Saxtorffs Byste jeg forundrer mig der over den som har sagt at benævnte BysteII ikke var beg[y]nt som har staaet færdig i mit Værsted og som jeg er bered at tilsende Dem med første Lælighed. Aarsagen til dette lange ophold har været følgende. De erindrer[?] Dem …
You are quite right, dear friend, to be angry with me for not having fulfilled my obligation to answer your letter of November 23rd the more so as you from this must think that I have not started on the late Saxtorph’s bust I wonder who has said that the mentioned bust was not started, which has been ready in my workshop and which I am prepared to dispatch to you by the first boat. The reason for this long delay has been as follows. You remember….
[Translated by Karen Husum]
This unfinished draft deals with the bust of the obstetrician Mathias Saxtorph, commissioned in 1800. The letter stops when Thorvaldsen has to come up with an explanation of why he has not sent the bust. It has probably been difficult to find the right arguments. The finished bust had been in Thorvaldsen’s workshop at least since 1806, but Thorvaldsen had had somebody else execute the bust. That appears from the draft of ca 23.9.1806 to Abildgaard, where Thorvaldsen writes: “Professor Baden’s Bust is finished and will be sent at the first opportunity, together with Saxtorph’s bust for Dr. Scheel, which (between us) I did not make myself, and which has been paid to me”. Therefore, it must have been a rather embarrassing matter to explain, and to judge from later reminders from Scheel, it is most likely that Thorvaldsen never sent a finished letter based on this draft. See also the related article Saxtorph’s Bust for more details.
The draft is written on the back of the drawing C185r, i.e. C185v.
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Mathias Saxtorph, 1801, inv.nr. A899 |
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Gravmæle, 1800-tallet, inv.nr. C185r |
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Chiron lærer Achilleus at skyde med bue, 1800-tallet, inv.nr. C185v |
Last updated 31.08.2017
Scheel’s letter to Thorvaldsen 23.11.1808.
The bust of the obstetrician Mathias Saxtorph, which Scheel commissioned already in 1800. See the related article Saxtorph’s Bust. Today the marble bust is in the maternity ward of the National Hospital in Copenhagen, a plsaster cast of the bust is in Thorvaldsens Museum, A899.