Bertel Thorvaldsen
Rom
Poul Scheel
København
Dateringen fremgår ikke af brevet, men det må være fremsendt efter Scheels brev til Thorvaldsen 28.7.1810, da Thorvaldsens brev er svar på dette.
Thorvaldsen responds to Poul Scheel’s cancellation of the commission for the bust of the Doctor Saxtorph. He regrets that Scheel has been wrongly informed that work on the bust has not yet begun. It has been finished for a long time, and Thorvaldsen explains why he has not sent it to Copenhagen. He believes to have fulfilled his part of the contract. Finally, he remarks that he is doing well in Rome.
Kiære gode Ven! Saa kiært det haver været mig at see Brev fra Dem som saa venskabelig spørger til mit Befindende[,] saa giør det mig i midlertiid undt at erfare at De saa urigtig er bleven underrettet om Sal: Saxtorpts BysteI – maaske denne urigtige UnderretningII maa have til Aarsag: at De har savnet Brev fra migIII; Nevnte Byste blev strax udført efter Deres Bestilling og altsaa har staaet siden hin Tiid færdig i mit Værkstæd med tilhørende Pedistal – hvorfore ieg ikke haver hiemsendt Samme er: fordi ieg troede at forlade Rom og vilde da efter Aftale saa som LadesIV KaaberstikV fandtes utilstrækkelig retusere det i Kbhvn; senere har ieg immer ventet at kunde skikke Samme tillige med andre mine ArbeiderVI til Kiøbenhavn, men saaledes ventende paa Lejlighed kom den uventede Krig og Søetransporten afskiæres Danemark; Jeg har følgeligen troet at Transporten tillands for et eneste Byste vilde blive for kostbar; naar Samme ikke kunde skikkes tillige med andre Arbeider af Værdi. Desuden for at afsendes til lands udfordres Adresse paa en Mand i Hamburg – som af Dem bemyndiges til at betale Omkostningerne fra Rom dertil og siden igen derfra besørger det til Khvn –
Jeg tror her ved Kiære Ven! at have meddeelt Dem den ønskede Efterretning: hvoraf De behagelig erfarer, at ieg paa det nøyeste haver opfyldt vores Aftale Sal S Byste angaaende.
Hvad mig selv angaar bør ieg /med Hensyn til vores krigerske Periode hvor ved Kunsten kommer i Forglemmelse/ kalde mig lykkelig; at ieg til nu ikke har mangletr Arbeide – Men om nogen Kunstner kan glæde sig ved at tænke Fremtiiden vil Tiiden lære. – Lev vel og lykkelig – kiære Ven, og erindre Dem undertiids Deres ganske hengivne
Dear good friend, As dear as it has been to me to see a letter from you who so kindly ask how I am, it however, makes me sad to learn that you have been informed so incorrectly about the late Saxtorph’s bust – perhaps this incorrect information is due to: your having been without letters from me; the mentioned bust was executed immediately after you commissioned it and so has been finished since then in my workshop complete with pedestal – the reason why I have not sent the same home is: because I thought I was going to leave Rome and as had been arranged if Lahde’s line engravings was found inadequate I would retouch it in Copenhagen; Later on I have ever waited for being able to dispatch the mentioned as well as other of my works to Copenhagen but thus awaiting a possibility the unexpected war broke out and carriage by sea is cut off to Denmark; consequently I have thought that transport by a land route of one single bust would become too expensive; when the mentioned could not be sent together with other works of value. Besides to be dispatched by land the address of a man in Hamburg is required – who by you is authorized to pay the expenses from Rome to that place and then again from that place to transmit it to Copenhagen –
I think, dear friend that with this I have given you the wished for information: from which you favourably learn that with the greatest care I have fulfilled our agreement as regards the late S’s bust.
As for me regarding our militant times by which art gets into oblivion I should call myself happy that I up to now have not wanted work – But if any artist can be happy by thinking of the future time will show – Live happily and take care of yourself – dear friend and remember sometimes yours sincerely
[Translated by Karen Husum]
It cannot be confirmed that this draft was ever sent. On the contrary, from a letter from Scheel probably of September 1810, it appears that the people who commissioned the bust have not heard from Thorvaldsen for four years. Maybe the draft was written so late that Scheel’s next letter arrived before it could be sent off. For more information about Saxtorph’s bust, see the related article about this.
C.F. Høyer
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Mathias Saxtorph, 1801, inv.nr. A899 |
Last updated 30.10.2015
The bust of the obstetrician Mathias Saxtorph, which Poul Scheel had commissioned 24.12.1800. However, it was not Thorvaldsen who had executed it, cf. the draft of a letter to Abildgaard 23.9.1806. Regarding the bust, see the related article Saxtorph’s Bust.
From Scheel’s letter of 28.7.1810, it appears that Scheel had been informed that Thorvaldsen had not yet begun work on the bust. This, however, was not correct as it had been finished, cf. the draft of a letter to Abildgaard
ca 23.9.1806, in which Thorvaldsen also admits that he has not executed the bust himself.
In spite of letters from Scheel e.g. of 23.11.1808, Thorvaldsen had failed to answer, but in his letter to Nicolai Abildgaard of 6.8.1804 he had asked Abildgaard to tell Scheel that the bust would soon be finished.
The Danish engraver G.L. Lahde.
In letter of 20.5.1801, Scheel wrote that he was enclosing an engraving by G.L. Lahde.
In 1806, Thorvaldsen was planning to send the bust to Copenhagen together with the bust of Jacob Baden, A863, cf. letter of 23.9.1806 to Nicolai Abildgaard.