Bertel Thorvaldsen
København
Kunstakademiet, København
København
Udskrift: Til det Kongelige Maler Billedhugger og Bygnings Acadamie
Dateringen fremgår af brevet
Thorvaldsen’s application for the travelling scholarship of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
Underdanigst Pro MemoriaI.
Da ieg ved flere tilfelde er overtydet om, at Det Kongelige Acadamie for Konsterne, ønsker mit Vel og min Fremgang i den Deel af Konsten ieg hidtil har dyrket under dets Veyledning, fordrister ieg mig med saamegen mere Frimodighed til at ansøge om at erholde det første ledige Reise StipendiumII for om mueligt en gang i tiden at kunde overtyde Publicum om at den understøttelseIII Academiet hidtil har forundt mig icke er falden paa en aldeles uværdig.
Skulde Academiet accordere mig denne min Begiæring, ønsker ieg meget, icke allene for mine Øconomiske men og for andre indtrufne omstændigheders skyld, at erfare naar ieg kunde giøre mig Haab om at tiltræde min Reise, da ieg imidlertiid henlever med den varmeste Tacknemmelighed
Kiøbenhavn d 2. Novb. 1795.
Det Kongelige Acadamiets
underdanigste Tiener
Bertel Thorvaldsen
Humblest Pro Memoria
As on several occasions I have been convinced that the Academy of Fine Arts wishes my welfare and progress in the part of art I have cultivated so far under its directions I venture with so much more openness to apply for the first available travelling scholarship in order to convince the public if possible some time that the support which the Academy has granted me has not been given to a completely undeserving person.
Should the Academy accord me what I apply for I very much wish not only for financial reasons but also for the sake of other circumstances to be informed when I might hope to commence my journey. In the meantime, I pass time with the utmost gratitude.
Copenhagen, 2nd November. 1795
The most humble servant
of the Academy of Fine Arts
Bertel Thorvaldsen
[Translated by Karen Husum]
According to Thiele I, p. 43-44, Thorvaldsen was not altogether willing to go abroad, but, under pressure from Abildgaard and others, he sent in this application for the triennial travelling scholarship of the Academy of Fine Arts.
The journal of the Academy of Fine Arts of 2.11.1795 (The Danish National Archives, Kunstakademiets arkiv, Akademiforsamlingen, Dagbog) reads: “Concerning the application of the sculptor and medallist Thorvaldsen to be awarded the first available travelling scholarship, it was resolved: That as a travelling scholarship in the Academy will inevitably fall vacant next year, 1796, the student Thorvaldsen may be assured thereof and prepare himself for his journey abroad.”
The grant of 400 rix-dollars a year was thus approved on the same date as the application. Thorvaldsen would be able to leave when the present holder of the scholarship, the medallist Peter Leonhard Gianelli, returned some time in 1796.
Last updated 09.02.2016
Latin for “in remembrance”, used to recall oneself to somebody. The expression was originally a polite introduction in letters to persons of a higher rank, often civil servants. Gradually it was also used more generally in letters to or from officials, often written in one word. The expression appears frequently in the more formal letters in the Archive.
The holder of the travelling scholarship was the medallist Peter Leonhard Gianelli. He would return during 1796, after which the scholarship could be taken over by someone else.
Thorvaldsen had received a pension of 100 rix-dollars from the Academy of Fine Arts twice before, in 1794 and 1795, see letters of 2.12.1793 and 5.1.1795 from Thorvaldsen to the Academy of Fine Arts.