20.8.1808

Sender

Bertel Thorvaldsen

Sender’s Location

Rom

Information on sender

Poststempel: BUREAU FRA[xxx] / ROME

Recipient

Herman Schubart

Recipient’s Location

Livorno

Information on recipient

Udskrift: À Monsieur / Monsieur le Baron de Schubart / Chevalier de l’Ordre de Dannebrogue / Chambellan de S.M. Danoise Son Mi-/nistre plenipotentiaire et Intendant /général du Commerce Danois an / Italie / à / Livorne

Dating based on

Dateringen fremgår af brevet.

Abstract

Thorvaldsen cannot come to Montenero because he is waiting for a final answer regarding a commission of either Adonis, cf. A53, or Mars Bringing Peace, cf. D174, in marble. However, he is looking forward to seeing Schubart in Rome.

Document

Rom d 20de August 1808

Høystærede Hr Kammerherre

Jeg kan ikke beskrive Deres Eccellenza den Smertlige Følelse at ikke have kundet RejsetI med vore felles Landsmend til yndige MonteneroII, og endnu være er den uveshed som jeg lever i –
Hr LundIII og WahlIV har formodigligV fortalt Deres Eccellenza mine omstendigheder hvor for jeg ikke har kundet taget med Dem.
I Gaar var jeg paa Nye hos den BeæriskeVI MenisterVII for at at faae nogen efterretning, han giver mig det beste Haab, men har endnu ingen bestemt Svar fra sin KongeVIII, om det skal blive AdomisIX eller MarsX, skulde det blive den siste saa maa jeg endpakke min Model og Rejse til CararraXI med den for at søge Marmor og lade den der udhugge af det Grove da her ikke findes saa stort et Stykke som kan kiøbes.
Dersom de oven omtalte Aarsager skulde forhindre mig fra at nyde den fornøelse at tilbringe en kort Tiid paa det yndige Montenero, saa har jeg den store Glæde at see Deres Eccellenza her i RomXII som er mig usigelig trøstende at kunde tale med min Velyndere og VelgiøreXIII, da jeg har saa meget at sige Dem, som min elendige maade at Skrive ikke tillader mig –
Jeg beder underdanigst min Komplement aflagt hos Deres naadige Frue GemalindeXIV samt alle gode Venner. At omfavne Deres Eccellenza enten paa Montenero eller i Rom er mit hjertelige Ønske og Glæde hvor med jeg henlevver og forbliver Deres Eccellenza

underdanigste Tiener
Alberto Thorvaldsen

Jeg har værat lit Syg som begynd[t]e ligesom den farlige SygdomXV som den gode Luft paa Montener[o]XVI og Deres Venskabelige omhu har befridt mig fra at gaa hidenXVII i den anden Verden
Instendig beder jeg at unskylde dette SmøreriXVIII og ikke at lade nogen af Vore Landsmend see det

Oversættelse af dokument

Rome, August 20th 1808

Sir, Esteemed Excellency,

I can not describe to Your Excellency the painful feeling not to have been able to go with our joint countrymen to the lovely Montenero, and much worse is the state of uncertainty I am in –
I suppose Mr Lund and [Mr] Wahl have told Your Excellency my circumstances for which reason I have not been able to accompany them.
Yesterday I again was at the Bavarian minister to get some information, he gives me the best hope, but has not yet a decided answer from his king, whether it is going to be Adonis or Mars, if he decides upon the latter I must pack up my model and go to Carrara with it to find marble and have it carved of the rough as no such large piece can be found here which it is possible to buy.
If the above mentioned reasons should prevent me from enjoying the pleasure to spend a short time at the lovely Montenero, I shall have the great joy to see Your Excellency here in Rome which is a great comfort to me to be able to talk to my patron and benefactor, as I have so much to tell you, which my miserable way of writing won’t permit me –
I ask you most humbly to pay my compliments to your gracious wife as well as all good friends. To hold Your Excellency in my arms either at Montenero or in Rome is my sincere wish and joy with which I live and remain Your Excellency’s

most humble servant
Alberto Thorvaldsen

I have been a little ill which began like the dangerous illness which the good air at Montenero and your friendly solicitude saved me from passing to another world
I urgently ask forgiveness for this scribbling and not to let any of our countrymen see it




[Translated by Karen Husum]

General Comment

This was not part of Thiele’s original find of Thorvaldsen’s letters in the summer of 1844. The letter was acquired by Thorvaldsens Museum in the early 20th century.

Document Type

Færdigt egenhændigt dokument

Archival Reference

m28, nr. 142

Thiele

Ikke omtalt hos Thiele.

Subjects

Persons

Works

A53 Adonis, 1808, inv.nr. A53
D174 Den fredsbringende Mars, 1808 - 1811, inv.nr. D174

Commentaries

  1. in letter of 12.8.1808, Schubart had invited Thorvaldsen to Montenero, suggesting that they could travel back to Rome together.

  2. I.e. the Schubarts’ summer residence at Montenero, in the hills 7-8 kilometres south of Leghorn.

  3. I.e. the Danish painter J.L. Lund, who had already left Rome at this time and was at Montenero, cf. 12.8.1808.

  4. I.e. the Danish painter Johan Georg Wahl, who had already left Rome at this time and was at Montenero, cf. 12.8.1808.

  5. Dvs. formodentlig. Stavefejlen er sandsynligvis et udslag af Thorvaldsens ordblindhed, se mere herom i Thorvaldsens tale- og skriftsprog.
    Se også de undskyldninger, Thorvaldsen gør nedenfor for sin brevskrivning.

  6. Dvs. bayeriske eller bayerske.

  7. I.e. the German cardinal and the Bavarian minister to Rome at the time, Johann Casimir Häffelin.

  8. I.e. the Bavarian King Maximilian I (1756-1825). However, the commission mentioned here was not from the King but from the Crown Prince, Ludwig of Bavaria, as appears from the later correspondence, e.g. letter of 28.12.1809 from Thorvaldsen to Ludwig (I).

  9. I.e. Thorvaldsen’s statue Adonis, cf. A53.
    The reason for Thorvaldsen’s “uncertainty” seems to have been that he had hopes of receiving a commission for a marble statue, but it was still unclear whether it was going to be Adonis or Mars Bringing Peace, as mentioned below.
    The result was that Adonis was commissioned in marble by Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria through his agent in Rome at the time, the above-mentioned Bavarian minister Johann Casimir Häffelin.
    This was Ludwig I’s first commission from Thorvaldsen, see Ludwig I of Bavaria’s Commissions.

  10. I.e. Thorvaldsen’s statue Mars Bringing Peace, which today is only known from Ferdinando Mori’s drawing D174. This figure of Mars later became part of the group Mars and Cupid, A7.
    The plaster model of the statue was finished in January 1808.

  11. Thorvaldsen’s statue of Mars Bringing Peace was – unlike Adonis – in colossal size, which required a much bigger block of marble.
    As such a block could not be bought in Rome, it would clearly have been more practical for Thorvaldsen to go to the Carrara marble quarry and have the carving done there.
    The commission of the Mars statue did not materialize.

  12. In his letter of 12.8.1808, Schubart had announced that he and his wife, Jacqueline Schubart would travel to Rome in the middle of September 1808.

  13. Schubart helped Thorvaldsen in many ways during his early years in Rome, among other things by getting permission for him to remain in Italy – see A Free Man. Thorvaldsen’s Continuance in Rome 1803-1804 – and regarding the sculptor’s health – see Thorvaldsen’s Illness 1803-04.
    In spite of Schubart’s importance to Thorvaldsen, however, the relationship between the two was not unproblematic in all respects, see The Only Price I Charge.

  14. I.e. Jacqueline Schubart.

  15. Thorvaldsen is referring to his illness 1803-04, which “almost brought him to his grave”, as he later put it.

  16. Thorvaldsen felt much better after having spent some months with the Schubarts at Montenero in the summer of 1804.

  17. Dvs. at gå heden, altså at dø. Se adverbiet heden i Ordbog over det danske Sprog.

  18. It is obvious that Thorvaldsens was painfully aware of his poor spelling, see more about this in Thorvaldsen’s Spoken and Written Language.

Last updated 14.10.2015