Bertel Thorvaldsen
Rom
Herman Schubart
Montenero
Ingen udskrift.
Dateringen fremgår ikke af brevudkastet, men da det er forlæg til det afsendte brev af 6.6.1807, skal udkastet dateres samtidigt med dette.
Draft: Thorvaldsen is unable to come to Montenero because of too much work. The Dance of the Muses on Helicon, A705, has almost been completed in marble but is full of spots. He has put off sending casts of the busts of Jacqueline Schubart, cf. A220, Herman Schubart, cf. A219, so that they could be sent to Copenhagen together with the marble busts of Conrad Rantzau, cf. A211, Jacob Baden, A863, and Jacob Laurids Thrane, Dep.36. The Baptism of Christ, cf. A555,1, has almost been finished in marble. He is working on the other three reliefs for the Baptismal Font.
Jeg
Saasom jeg har Haabet [men forgævesI] at være saa Lykkelig at tilbringe Somm paa det yndige montenereII
Efter lan Tiid at have levet i det glade Haab at tilbringe [at profitere af Dere gode inbydelseIII] Sommer paa det yndige Montenere, og saaledes i Deres behagelige Selskab kunde bedre have kundet forklaret mu[n]lig alt Vad jeg vil sige en[d]som ved at skriveIV saa maae jeg dog gribe til det siste saa ugeskegtV som jeg en[d]og er heri, da det desto være ikke er mig mulig at kunde Rejse herfra formedels mine arbyederVI som jeg finder vanskeliger at forlae en jeg forud har trodt
Deres Basreffe med Muse[r]neVII er nesten ferdig[,] marmoret er ikke Efter ønske[,] jeg beder om forladlese at jeg ikke har sendt De[res] Bÿste[r,]VIII jeg ophold det fordi Deres ExelleIX vil sende den til Kiøbenhavn og saalede vilde profiter af samm leælighed og sende grev RamsovX Profesor BadenXI og TraneXII med sam leilighed til Danmark
Deres Barelef med muserneXIII er nesten færdig – det giør mig unt at marmorret ikke er faldet saa godt ud som jeg ønskede det der er en del PleterXIV[,] derimod til DaabenXV har jeg været Lykelig Juhannes og Crestus med et stykk marmor som er over maade smuk Juhanes den DøberXVI er kommet udaf derudaf underXVII Pleter og ha[a]ber de andre SiderXVIII vil komme ligelede
I
As I have hoped [but in vain] to be so happy as to spend the summer at the lovely Montenero
After having lived in the happy hope for long to spend [to profit from your kind invitation] [for the] summer at the lovely Montenero, and so in your pleasant company could be able to better explain orally all that I want to say than by writing, I have however to resort to the latter however unfitted I am for it, as I am sorry to say that it is not possible for me to be able to go away from here owing to my works which I find more difficult to leave than I thought before
Your bas-relief with the Muses has almost been finished the marble is not according to my wishes I beg your pardon for not having sent your busts[,] I detained it because Your Excellency wanted to send it to Copenhagen and I wanted to profit from the same occasion and send Count Ramsov, Professor Baden and Thrane on the same occasion to Denmark
Your bas-relief with the Muses has almost been finished – I am sorry that the marble has not turned out as well as I wished there are a number of spots[,] compared to it I have been fortunate with The Baptism John and Christ with a piece of marble which is extremely beautiful John the Baptist has come out of out from it without spots and I hope the other sides will come out likewise
[Translated by Karen Husum]
This is a draft of the finished letter of 6.6.1807.
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Musernes dans på Helikon, juni 1806 - 1807, inv.nr. A705 |
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Herman Schubart, Tidligst juni 1805 - marts 1806, inv.nr. A219 |
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Jacqueline Schubart, august 1805 - marts 1806, inv.nr. A220 |
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Conrad Rantzau, 1805, inv.nr. A211 |
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Jacob Baden, juni 1806 - september 1806, inv.nr. A863 |
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Kristi dåb, Tidligst 1804 - 1805, inv.nr. A555,1 |
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Maria med Jesus og Johannes, Tidligst 1806 - Senest 1808, inv.nr. A555,2 |
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Tre svævende engle, Tidligst 1806 - Senest 1808, inv.nr. A555,3 |
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Kristus velsigner børnene, Tidligst 1806 - Senest 1808, inv.nr. A555,4 |
Last updated 24.09.2015
This has been added above the line.
I.e. the Schubarts’ country house Montenero, ca 7 km south of Leghorn.
In his previous letter of 9.3.1807, Schubart had invited Thorvaldsen to visit Montenero in the summer.
He had repeated the invitation in his letter of 5.6.1807, but Thorvaldsen had hardly had time to see this.
This has been added above the line.
Because of his dyslexia and his imperfect schooling, Thorvaldsen was not a great writer, see more about this in Thorvaldsen’s Spoken and Written Language.
Dvs. ungeschickt, tysk for ubehændig, uegnet, uskikket.
At this time, Thorvaldsen was working on several things, among them the works mentioned below, The Dance of the Muses on Helicon, A705, and the Baptismal Font, the marble version for Brahetrolleborg, cf. A555,1; besides Cupid Holding a Butterfly to Hurt it with an Arrow, Spring 1807, Cupid and Psyche, A28, Not later than July 1807, and several others, see the chronology of works 1806-1807.
I.e. Thorvaldsen’s relief The Dance of the Muses on Helicon, A705, which today is on permanent loan in the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.
The relief was never completed, probably because of the spots in the marble that Thorvaldsen mentions here. The passage documents that the relief was almost complted at this time.
I.e. Thorvaldsen’s busts of Jacqueline Schubart, A220, carved in marble in August 1805-March 1806, and Herman Schubart, A219, carved in marble Summer 1805-March 1806.
Here, however, Thorvaldsen is referring to casts of these two busts which Schubart had commissioned in his letter of 15.8.1806.
Dvs. Excellence.
I.e. Thorvaldsen’s marble bust of Conrad Rantzau, cf. A211. Today the marble bust is at Schloss Breitenburg in Holstein.
The passage documents that the bust was completed in marble, not later than this time.
I.e. Thorvaldsen’s marble bust of Jacob Baden, A863, which was completed in September 1806.
Portrait bust in marble of J.L. Thrane, Dep.36.
I.e. the above-mentioned relief The Dance of the Muses on Helicon, A705.
To Thorvaldsen, spots violated the unity that the marble was to create. This ideal of beauty was undoubtedly based on the German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann’s aesthetic ideas.
See also the subject heading “Spotless Marble”:/emner/pletfri-marmor.
I.e. Thorvaldsen’s Baptismal Font, the marble version for Brahetrolleborg, cf. A555,1.
The carving was completed not later than 22.10.1808.
I.e the front of the baptismal font with The Baptism of Christ, showing John the Baptist and Christ, cf. A555,1.
Det vil sandsynligvis sige uden.
Fejlen er antagelig symptomatisk for Thorvaldsens ordblindhed, se evt. referenceartiklen Thorvaldsens tale- og skriftsprog.
In other words, Thorvaldsen had not finished modelling the other three sides of the Baptismal Font at this time even though the front had already been carved in marble.
In his letter of 30.1.1807, he had written to Schubart that he was going to decorate the other sides of the Baptismal Font. The result was Mary with Jesus and John, cf. A555,2, Three Hovering Angels, cf. A555,3 and Christ Blessing the Children, cf. A555,4.
See also the finished letter, in which Thorvaldsen writes that he has not even modelled the other three sides yet.