1.1.1795

Sender

Bertel Thorvaldsen

Sender’s Location

København

Recipient

Sophie Probsthayn

Recipient’s Location

København

Information on recipient

Da der er tale om en tegning, som formentlig er blevet personligt overleveret, er der ingen udskrift. Tilskriften lyder, jf. det også i brevteksten gengivne: Til Jumf Sophie Probsthayn

Dating based on

Dateringen fremgår af akvarellen.

Abstract

Thorvaldsen sends a verse of poetry as a New Year’s greeting.

Document

Til Jumf.^I Sophie Propsthayn
Som Bækken mellem Blomster slynger sig
Saa Slynger sig Det Liv^II blandt idel glæder
og Aldrig Skiulte Torner^III Saare Dig
Hvad Plet Endog Din unge Fod Betræde
d^e 1. Jan:1795 B Thorvaldsen

Oversættelse af dokument

To Miss Sophie Propsthayn
As the brook among flowers winds
So the life winds among mere joys
And never hidden thorns wound you
Whatever spot your young foot steps on
1^st January. 1795 B. Thorvaldsen

[Translated by Karen Husum]

General Comment

The text appears as an inscription on the watercolour C821 and is part of its subject.

The drawing shows a barefoot young woman in an Empire gown offering flowers on a burning altar. On her right a naked putto is bringing her flowers in a basket, placed on its head. In the background there are some trees, and in the foreground to the left some flowers are reflected in a brook which winds its way into the background. The text is inscribed on the front of the altar. Thus the subject of the drawing agrees with the contents of the poem.

The drawing is a New Year’s greeting to Sophie Probsthayn. Thorvaldsen has probably not written the text himself (see the related article on Thorvaldsen’s spoken and written language) but rather made a drawing for a verse written by someone else. The watercolour shows many formal similarities with the New Year’s greeting Thorvaldsen wrote to Sophie Amalie Kurtzhals, CX11 [Dep.19], which also illustrates a stanza from a poem.

It is not known what relationship Thorvaldsen had with Sophie Probsthayn. She was the younger sister of the painter Carl Probsthayn (see Dansk Demografisk Database, census of Copenhagen 1787 under Carl Propstein (his household and Sophia). He was a friend of Thorvaldsen’s youth, who, like Thorvaldsen himself, C.D. Fritzsch and Heinrich Grosch, was a member of a “drawing academy”.

Document Type

Archival Reference

Thiele

Other references

• Dyveke Helsted, upubliceret tegningsregistrant, C821, Thorvaldsens Museum.

Subjects

• Drawings, Allegories
• Drawings, Painterly Executed
• Thorvaldsen's Women
• Thorvaldsen's Spoken and Written Language
• Friends of Thorvaldsen's Youth

Works

Nytårskort til Sophie Probsthayn, 1. januar 1795, inv.nr. C821

Commentaries

1. Dvs. Jomfru. Her brugt i betydningen “yngre, ugift kvinde”, jf. Ordbog over det danske Sprog.

2. He probably means “your life”.

3. Der menes formentlig: “skjulte torne”.

Last updated 16.08.2021