C.W. Eckersberg
Rom
J.F. Clemens
København
Dateringen fremgår af udkastet.
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Afsendt den 5 August 1815
Deres Brev gode Hr. Clemens med Vexelen, og det fra Møller og Bagge her jeg med meegen fornøyelse imodtaget d. 28. July. Vexelen har dennegang indbragt 72 Scudi. Det har fornøyet mig usigeligt at De gode Hr. Clemens som ogsaa vore Venner befinder Dem for saavidt vel, jeg takker Dem meeget for alt hvad De har meddelt mig, men især at De altid med saa utrættelig Iver sørger for mig, og bestyrer mine Affairer. De Bifald De kære Hr. Clemens som ogsaa mine Venner har ytret mig over mine hiemsendte Arbeider, er mig meeget Opmuntrende, og belønnende, men De ere maaskee lidt for overbærende med mig. Det er en stor Lykke for mig at disse Ting hældig ere ankomne til Deres Bestemmelse, og at AltertavlenI har faaet en Kjøbere, og maae især takke Dem, for Deres Medvirkning dertil, jeg beeder Dem meeget at hilse Hr. Nathanson, og takke ham fra mig, at han ikke alleene vil være Eyere af Altertavlen om den förste ikke vil, men at han ogsaa allerede, har giordt mig Anviisning paa Pengene. Det er at beundre hvad denne sjældne Mand giør meeget for Konsten, og jeg glæder mig til snart at giøre hans nøyere Bekjendtskab. jeg tror nok at Akademiet har været uvillig over at betale en saa uhyre Transport, for Thorw. Portrait, men denngang vidste vi endnu ikke at der gaves Leilighed i Livourno og giærne ønskede Hr. Thorw. og jeg at det skulde indtreffe til Expositionen, derfor blev det sendt bort over Hals og Hoved. Jeg er meeget glad, at disse Malerier dog har fundet fleeres Bifald, at giøre alle tilpas er jo gandske umueligt, de ere vel ogsaa malte efter andre Principer end dem man hidtil kjendte hos os, og derfor vilde det ikke undre mig om mange fandt det besynderlig, man har i almindelighed, vel om ingenting fleere hinanden imodstridende Begreber, end om Malerie som man især mærker her i Rom, og om ingen Ting synes mig burde der være meere almindeligt Begreb, det er ikke tilfælde med Billedhuggerkonsten, og jeg troer, netop derfor staaer den i vore Dage over Malerkonsten. Det glæder mig ellers at man begynder at faae meere og meere Smag for de skjøne Konster hieme hos os, og at vore Konstnere dog alle har lidt at bestille. Raden burde dog ogsaa engang kome til os i Norden at giøre Epoque i Konsten. Ogsaa Svendskerne begynder nu meere end tilforn at opmuntre de skjøne Könster, og har to fortrinlige Artister her, en Billedhugger Hr. Byström og en Maler Hr. Haselgreen denne sidste er en Mand af meegen Talent, og mange Kundskaber, Hr. Thorwaldsen beder mig at hilse Dem paa det forbindligste, og han arbeider overmaade flittig og har siden jeg skrev Dem sidst endt det skiøne Basrelief PriamusII, og giordt et andet forestillende Dianeira bortført af Centauren en overmaade skiøn GruppeIII, desuden 2 andre smaae Basreliefer af skiøndt Indhold og yndig Komposition, det ene Natten svævende over Jorden, med hendes begge Børn Søvnen og DødenIV, og det andet Morgenen strøende Blomster paa Jorden, ledsaget af Lyset: en Genius med en FakelV, og nu arbejder han paa en deilig Portraitstatue af en Rusisk Prindsese, Gemalinde til en Rusisk General OstermannVI, nu ere vi allene her tilbage, Hr. Malling reiste bort herfra i Løverdags d. 29. med Hr. Architect Hetsch og Hr. Capt. v. Huth med Kone og Børn, efter hvilken sidste Hr. Malling deels har opholdt sig saa længe, og deels for at blive Medlem af Akademiet St. Luca her, som han er blevet faae Dage førend hans Afreise. De vil haaber jeg see dem allesammen og især vilde jeg anbefale Dem Hr. Hetsch som et Menneske af god Characteer og udmærket Talent, men hvorom De selv bedst vil kunde Døme naar De seer hans Arbeider. Jeg fik Deres Brev dagen forend de toge bort, og sagte Malling at Gibssagerne vare ankomne til deres Bestemmelse. [...] saa meeget imod [...] for mig, at jeg umueligen kunde udholde at blive her længe, komer og, at jeg maaskee aldrig vilde komme til at fortjeene saa meeget som jeg behøvde til mit Underhold, om jeg end ogsaa fik det jeg sendte hjem godt betalt, vilde der tabes saameeget deels ved den lange Vey imellem, og mange andre Omstændigheder, at der kun blev lidt tilbage, som en Figur- eller Historiemaler kan man arbejde ligesaa godt i Norden, det ønske at see min lille Søn igien og at leve med mine sande Venner og tillige at engang ogsaa kunde faae en Huusindretning for mig selv, giør at jeg længes efter at vende tilbage, naar jeg faaer dette Ønske opnaaet haaber jeg sikkert at ogsaa Arbeidet vil gaae bedre, for nu til den Ende at benytte den øvrige Tid her i Rom, jeg har tilbage, har jeg forresat mig, naar jeg gandske har endt Hr. Nathansons Malerie, som vil skee i Sept. eller først i Octob., i Efteraaret saa længe Veyret tillader det at samle mig Studier, af adskillige Ting og i Vintermaanederne at giøre et Malerie af Prosessionen i Koloseet med maaske et Sidestykke, andet udført tør jeg ikke love herfra Rom. Febr. og Marz har skjøne Dage som jeg vilde anvende til Studier og vuer og et og andet som man ikke finder andetsteds, siden vilde jeg som omstændighederne tillader det betræde tilbagereisen i Aprill eller May.
Sent August 5th 1815
Your letter, good Mr Clemens, with the bill and the letter from Møller and Bagge I have received with great pleasure July 28th. The bill has this time fetched 72 Scudi. It has pleased me immensely that you, good Mr Clemens as well as our friends so far are well, I thank you sincerely for all you have told me, but especially because you always take care of me with untiring enxiety and manage my affairs. The praise you, dear Mt Clemens as well as my friends have given me because of the works I have snt home is very encouraging and rewarding, but maybe you are a little too indulgent towards me. It is very fortunate for me that these things have arrived successfully to their destination, and that the altar piece has found a buyer, and I must especially thank you for your assistance; I beg you to remember me to Mr Nathanson and thank him from me that not only does he want to become the owner of the altar piece if the first one does not want to, but he has also already assigned me the money. One must admire what this exceptional person does for art and I am looking forward soon to making his acquaintance. I think that the Academy has been reluctant to pay so much for transport of the portrait of Thorvaldsen, but at that time we still did not know that there was a possibility at Leghorn and Mr Thorvaldsen and I wanted it to arrive for the exhibition, that was why it was sent off in a rush. I am very happy that these paintings, however, have found favour with several people, it is impossible to please everybody. I suppose they have been painted according to principles different from what has so far been known to us and so I should not wonder if many found it strange. In general I suppose there is nothing except painting about which there are more conflicting ideas which is especially felt here in Rome, and about nothing else, I think, there should be a general notion; that is not the case with the art of sculpture and I think that that is particularly why it in our time stands above the art of painting. But it pleases me that at home they begin to develop more taste for the fine arts and that our artists all have something to do. It should also be our turn in the North to make history in art. The Swedes also begin now more than before to encourage the fine arts and they have two excellent artists here, a sculptor Mr Byström and a painter Mr Haselgreen, the latter is a talented and wellinformed person. Mr Thorvaldsen asks me to give you his sincere regards, he works extremely hard and since I last wrote to you he has finished the beautiful bas-relief Priamus and made another one representing Deianira carried off by the centaur, a rather beautiful group, besides this two other small bas-reliefs of beautiful content and lovely composition, the one: Night floating above Earth with bothe her children Sleep and Death, and the other: Morning srewing flowers on the Earth accompanied by Light: a genius with a torch; and now he is working at a delicious portrait statue of a Russian princess, consort of a Russian General Ostermann. Now we are left alone here, Mr malling left from here on Saturday 29th together with Mr Hetsch, the architect and Captain v. Huth with wife and children. Mr Malling has stayed here so long because of the last mentioned and he also wished to become a member of the Academy St. Luca here, which he actually became a few days before his departure. You will see all of them, I hope, and I particularly want to recommend Mt Hetsch to you as a person with a good character and of excellent talent, of which you yourself will be the best judge when you see his works. I received your letter the day before they left and told Mr Malling that the plaster works had arrived at their destination. […] so much against […] to me, that I could not possibly stand staying here for long, and also that I shall perhaps never earn as much as I needed for my living, even though I was well paid for what I sent home, so much would be lost partly because of the long way, and many other circumstances, that only little would be left. As a figure- or histirical painter one can work just as well in the North; the wish to see my small son again and live among my true friends and furthermore to be able to arrange a house for me all this makes me want to return. When I have this wish granted I do hope that also my work will be better; for that purpose I shall use the rest of the time here in Rome. I have decided that when I have finished Mr Nathanson’s painting completely, which will happen in September or the beginning of October , in the autumn as long as the weather permits it I will collect studies of various things and in the winter months I will make a painting of the procession in the Colosseum perhaps with a counterpart, more things executed here from Rome I dare not promise. February and March have beautiful days which I should like to spend on studies and views and things you do not find in other places, later as circumstances permit I should begin my home journey in April or May.
[Translated by Karen Husum]
Dette er et udkast til et afsendt brev. Udkastet er skrevet af efter den trykte afskrift i Bramsen & Ragn Jensen, op. cit.
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Priamos bønfalder Achilleus om Hektors lig, Primo 1815, inv.nr. A492 |
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Deianira bortføres af Nessus, Tidligst 1814, inv.nr. A480 |
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Natten, Tidligst juni 1815 - Senest august 1815, inv.nr. A369 |
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Dagen, Antagelig 1815, inv.nr. A370 |
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Jelizaveta Aleksejevna Osterman-Tolstaja, 1815, inv.nr. A167 |
Last updated 24.04.2018
Dvs. Eckersbergs altertavle Kvinderne med englen ved Christi grav, Sem Kirke, Vestfold, Norge. Altertavlen blev udført for grev Johan Caspar Herman Wedel Jarlsberg (1779-1840).
Som det ses af det følgende, må det på et tidspunkt have været usikkert, om Wedel Jarlsberg ville have altertavlen.
Thorvaldsens relief Priamos bønfalder Achilleus om Hektors lig, A492.
Thorvaldsens relief Nessus og Deianira, A480.
Thorvaldsens relief Natten, A369.
Thorvaldsens relief Dagen, A370.
Thorvaldsens statue Jelizaveta Aleksejevna Osterman-Tolstaja, A167.