Bertel Thorvaldsen
Napoli
Det røde laksegl, der oprindeligt har lukket papiret om sig selv som en kuvert, er klippet af og har desuden efterladt hul i papiret antagelig ved åbningen af brevet.
Fonden ad usus publicos
København
Udskrift (med anden hånd):
Til / Den høikongelige Direction for Fonden ad usus publicos / i / Kjøbenhavn.
Tilskrift:
Til / Den kongelige DirectjonI / for Fonden ad usus publicos
Dateringen fremgår af brevet.
Thorvaldsen is very grateful for the grant and asks that his deepest gratitude may be conveyed to the Crown Prince and the King. He promises some day to dedicate his talents to his native country in order to repay his debt. Thorvaldsen wants to withdraw the money immediately.
Underdanig P.M.II
Med en følelse af Glæde og Erkjendtlighed som det vil være mig umueligt at fortolke ved Pennen, har jeg modtaget Den Høje DirectjonsIII Naadige Skrivelse af 6te Mart: sidstl:IV som underetter mig om at det har behaget hs Kongel: MajesttV, allenaadigst at tilstaae mig en Gratifikatjon af 300 rdVI.
Det være mig tilladt herved at bønfalde Den høje Directjon om at vilde nedlægge for hans Majestæt og hs Kongelige høihed KronprindsenVII min allerunderdanigste Tak for en Gave som er mig saameget mere smigrende, da jeg i samme vover at see Vor Danmarks tilbedet Regjerings Biefald med den fremgang jeg hidindtil har kundet gjøre paa den Kunsts Bane, til hvilken jeg har opoffret mig; og som tillige giver mig et betydeligt Middel til at foresætte samme, og gjøre mig værdig til en Konglig naade og tillige opliver hos mig det stedse oprigtige, Ønsker: engang at kunde hellige mine svage Evner til mit elskede Fædrelands ZierVIII, og til nogenledes at afbetale den GjeldIX som Regjeringen have paalagt mig.
Ifølge den mig naadigst gjvne TilladelseX agter jeg at udstedet VexelXI stor 240rd hanborg: BancoXII paa Bankonptoiret i Altona i faveur Dhr Cuttler & HeigelinXIII her i NeapelXIV, som jeg da tør haabe vil blive accepteret.
Neapel den 24 April 1804
underdanigst
B. Thorvaldsen
Humble P.M.
With a feeling of joy and gratitude, which it will be impossible for me to interpret in writing, I have received the high directors’ graceful letter of March 6th, which informs me that His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to grant me a gratuity of 300 rix-dollars.
Permit me hereby to beg the high directors to bring to His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince my most humble thanks for a present which is so much more complimentary as I in the same venture to see our Denmark’s beloved government’s approval of the progress I hitherto have been able to make on the course of art to which I have dedicated myself; and which also gives me considerable means to continue this course and makes me deserve a Royal favour and which also encourages in me the ever sincere wish: some time to be able to devote my weak skills to the ornament of my beloved native land and fairly to pay off the debt which the government has put on me.
According to the to me most favourably given permission I intend to issue a bill for 240 rix-dollars Hamburg: bank at the bank office in Altona in favour of Messrs Cuttler & Heigelin here in Naples, which I then hope will be accepted.
Naples, April 24th 1804
Most humbly,
B. Thorvaldsen
[Translated by Karen Husum]
See also the two drafts of the middle of April 1804 and 24.4.1804 (the latter, however, is more or less identical to this final version).
Last updated 12.05.2015
Om denne antagelig udtalebaserede og andre former for stavefejl i Thorvaldsens breve se evt. referenceartikel om Thorvaldsens tale- og skriftsprog.
I.e. Pro Memoria – 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 board consisted of the two directors Christian Ditlev Reventlow and Ernst Schimmelmann with Jonas Collin as the secretary of the foundation.
I.e. the letter from Fonden ad usus publicos of 6.3.1804, in which Thorvaldsen was informed that he had received a “gratification” of 300 rix-dollars.
I.e. Christian 7.
See the related articles about Monetary Units and Cost of Living.
I.e. Crown Prince Frederik (6.).
Thorvaldsen was to contribute to the adornment of Denmark with, among other things, works for “Christiansborg Palace:/artikler/bestillingen-til-christiansborg and the “Church of Our Lady”:/artikler/bestillingen-til-vor-frue-kirke, which were both being reconstructed in those years under the direction of the architect C.F. Hansen.
Here Thorvaldsen is probably referring partly to the charter of the Academy of Fine Arts, which provides that the recipients of scholarships must return to serve the King after finishing their studies abroad; and partly to the “gratification” of 300 rix-dollars from Fonden ad usus publicos, cf. the letter from the foundation of 6.3.1804, which was also from public funds and thus indebted him to the Danish state.
It is obvious, also in this draft, that Thorvaldsen wanted to postpone his return to Denmark for as long as possible, and in order not to promise anything definite he just referred to the time of the repayment of his debt as “some time”. For more details on this subject, see the related article A Free Man. Thorvaldsen’s Continuance in Rome.
See the letter from the foundation of 6.3.1804, in which Thorvaldsen is informed that an account has been opened for him in Altona with an amount corresponding to 300 Danish rix-dollars.
The sum was transferred by a bill of exchange, see more about bills in Monetary Units.
However, Thorvaldsen did not cash the money via a bill on the commercial house of Cutler & Heigelin in Naples as he here writes that he intends to do. Instead he must have arranged with Herman Schubart – who was also in Naples at this time – to draw a bill on him in order to enable him to redeem the bill later at a more favourable price in Toscana. See more about this matter in The Only Price I Charge.
In order to avoid a loss on exchanges, the 300 rix-dollars were deposited in Altona and converted into Hamburger Banco, which would secure Thorvaldsen against a loss, cf. Ernst Schimmelmann’s recommendation to the King, reproduced in the Danish National Archives (ed.): Fonden ad usus publicos. Aktmæssige Bidrag til Belysning af dens virksomhed, vol. 2, 1801-26, Copenhagen 1902, p. 75: “[...] The board asks permission: to assign this sum to him at the bank (Bank-Comptoir) in Altona in Hamburger Banco in order to secure him against a loss on exchanges.” The recommendation was approved on 14.3.1804, ibid. The same draft in the archive of the foundation shows that the original plan seems to have been to have the money paid through the Danish consul in Leghorn, J.C. Ulrich.
I.e. the German-English commercial bank of Cutler & Heigelin in Naples. Heigelin is the German Christian Heigelin, cf. Arnold, op. cit.
Heigelin was also consul-general for Denmark until 1804.
In the middle of April 1804, Thorvaldsen had gone to Naples in the company of Count Adam Gottlob Detlef Moltke, cf. the Thorvaldsen Chronology, so he was in the town at this time.