Januar 1797

Sender

Bertel Thorvaldsen

Sender’s Location

Malta

Recipient

Bertel Thorvaldsen

Recipient’s Location

Malta

Information on recipient

Ingen udskrift.

Dating based on

Dag og måned fremgår af dagbogsfragmenterne, og året er 1797, da der er tale om kladder til Thorvaldsens dagbogsindførsler fra 16.-18.1.1797.
Det første fragment er ganske vist dateret 18. december, hvilket er 1796, men da dette fragment er Thorvaldsens afskrift af skibspræsten Peder Pavels’ dagbog, gælder 18.12.1796 ikke som en datering af disse fragmenter. Det er mere sandsynligt, at Thorvaldsen har foretaget afskriften i januar 1797 som en indledende øvelse til sin egen dagbog, som han just skulle til at påbegynde. Da Pavels og Thorvaldsen tog afsked med hinanden 17.1.1797, stammer det første fragment fra før denne dag.
Kladden til Thorvaldsens egen dagbog synes dateret 23.1.1797, så det er derfor sandsynligt, at Thorvaldsen gik igang med disse dagbogsfragmenter tidligst denne dag.
Alt i alt må fragmenterne på arket altså stamme fra januar 1797.

Abstract

Copy of Peder Pavels’ diary and drafts of Thorvaldsen’s diary from Malta 1796-97.

Document

18
Søndag
December
I
En saa deylig Morgenstund man kunde tenke sig bebudede os i dag Renhed og FrihedII – det er ikke fuldt saa kolt som en smuk efteraaars Morgen i Høstens Tid hos os – den samme Chevalier, som første gang vi kom til MaltaIII forkyndt[e] os vor 40 Dages Quarantain kom i dag Kl 8 med en af sine Colleger ombord. Han var der neppe før en[d] syv Baade med MusigkanterIV af alle Slags leyrede sig paa Vandet under Kahytten og gav os vendeligV af de skiønneste sager de kunde frembringe. Skiønt var det vel ikke, dog heller ey saa slet[.] men denne deylige Morgenstund dette nye, det Tilsyneladende Had og FryetVI hos Maltheserne forandret til Venskab og fortrolighed, men fremfor alt det gamle IdeadeVII om italiensk Musik i baade paa Vandet her paa nogen Maade realiseret giort[e] det til den Liflig[st]e Musik i mine Øren skiø[n]t det meste var Serenadespil som vel her just ikke blev anvendt paa rette Sted og Tid – Capt: BlomVIII og lieut[:] GroveIX blev siden alle ombor[d] da ChefenX med de øvrige oft:XI gik i første ombord paa det Malthesiske Orlogskib derfra i land og giorde Visit hos Ordenens hoved Gran MastroXII spiste hos ConsulenXIII. Vores MasalianskeXIV Coffardi Kapitain har i dag forladt os for at blive i land og derfra gaa hiem til sit Frankrig – der blev nu varpet op mellem adsklilige Skibe til Pladsen hvor vi skulde ligge og kiølhales


[på arkets anden side:]

Den 23XV
Januarius
Den 16 JanuariusXVI om aftenen Kl 5 tog ieg ferXVII frigatten som gek til helt[?] [xxx] Tripoli, og det smertede mig at side i baaden og see frigaten gaa fra mig ieg havde unt vedXVIII at skiule min g[r]aad for vis ConselenXIX som sad med vaaresXX gamle[?] PilotXXI og en anden som ieg ikke kiende.
Ieg kom da i land og Piloten viste mig hen til min kapiteins Hus som kom strax iem og trøste mig og sagte no forsXXII[.] ieg spiste hos ham om aften en fleske kage og han viste mig [xxxx] paa vor ieg skulde ligge som var megeet[?] got[.] ieg lagte mig med et tung sindXXIII[?] og sov [xxx gex] om morgenen kom kabithein[en,] ieg satte[?] op og ønskede mig en god Morgen.
HectorXXIV [pxx] favnede mig og [kexste?] mig[.]
Siden gik jeg med CapiXXV til SperonareXXVI for at tage noget Rent paa og gek derfra til den danske brikXXVII for at tale med Capi[?] [om?] han ikke var ombord. ieg gek derfra[?]
[papiret mangler] [p]aa Veien var HetorXXVIII lysti og
[papiret mangler] geder og [xxxx] og Rev en
[papiret mangler] havde et barn paa armene
[papiret mangler] [b]lev meget bange for barnet[?]
[papiret mangler] [xx]t sig men det gik got
[papiret mangler] en Dreng over ende og
[papiret mangler] [xxx xxx nu?] er ieg
[papiret mangler] [xxx] annujereXXIX[?] mig meget[?]
[papiret mangler] saa lenge som mulig
[papiret mangler] dagen saa kort som
[papiret mangler] [g]ik ud til Speronare og der
[mellem linjerne:] Speronar
[papiret mangler] gav sig[?] kabiten var i[?]
[papiret mangler] [xx]gen hag kabete[in?] vor i[?]
[papiret mangler] [xx]n for talte mig at det
[papiret mangler] [xx]n en Dansk brik i gaard
[papiret mangler] [o]m ieg vilde følge med
[papiret mangler] med kabethenen ieg fulde
[papiret mangler] en [kexxae?] til borgen[?]


[ved siden af ovenstående passage:]
traf vi ham ikke ombord men Folkene[?]
sagte han var tagget i land vor vi ogsaa traf [ham]
paa tolbuden tillige med den forløbendeXXX
Tysker[.] Cabitenen saa ud til en FlegXXXI[?] mand[.]
baa[de?] kabetenen og tyskeren og Jeg gek sammen til
et kaffe hus og darkXXXII sogkeladeXXXIII og siden
derfra til billarXXXIV hvor ieg gik fra dem
og gek til fransuarXXXV, og derfra gik ieg hiem
og spiste til midag[.] efteredagXXXVI blever ieg hiem[me]
for det ser ud til god ver og ieg maaske
kunde komme væk
anden JuledagXXXVII var PavelsXXXVIII SmetXXXIX HansenXL
ForvalderenXLI og ieg ude paa
en GeneralleXLII[?] og saa Caderdal kerkenXLIII
og Palle støteXLIV og disse[?] UnderværkerXLV[?] [papiret mangler]

Oversættelse af dokument

18th
Sunday
December
The most beautiful morning imaginable announced to us today purity and freedom – it is not as cold as a beautiful morning in autumn in our country – the same Chevalier who the first time we came to Malta announced to us our 40 days of quarantine came on board at 8 o’clock today with one of his colleagues. He had hardly arrived when seven boats with musicians of all kinds lay on the water below the cabin and as was to be expected gave us the most beautiful pieces of what they could play. It was not very beautiful, but neither was it bad. But this wonderful morning this new thing, the apparent hate and fear with the Maltese now changed into friendship and confidence, but first and foremost the old ideal” of Italian music in boats on the water here by some means realized made it most delicious to my ears even though most of it consisted in playing serenades which here was actually not employed in the right place and time – Captain Blom and lieutenant Grove stayed on board as the boss with the other officers first went on board the Maltese warship and from there ashore and paid a visit to the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta and dined at the Consul’s. Our merchant skipper captain from Marseille has left us today to stay ashore and from there return to his France – now our ship was warped among several ships for the place where we were to lie and careen.


[on the other side of the sheet:]

The 23rd
of January
The 16th of January at 5 in the evening I left” the frigate which went all the way [?] [xxx] to Tripoli, and it grieved me to sit in the boat and see the frigate sail away, it was difficult for me to hide my tears to the vice-consul, who was sitting by our old [?] pilot and another person whom I did not know.
Well, I came ashore and the pilot showed me the way to the house of my captain who immediately came home and comforted me and said non fors. I dined with him in the evening, an omelette and he showed me [xxxx] where I was to sleep which was very [?] good. I lay down rather melancholy [?] and slept [xxxgex]. In the morning the captain came I sat up and he wished me good morning. Hector [pxx] embraced me and [kexste?] me.
Later I went with the captain to Speronaro to put on some clean clothes and went from there to the Danish brig to speak to the captain [?] [om?] he was not on board. I left [?]
[paper is missing] on the way here Hector was gay and
[paper is missing] goats and [xxxx] and tore a
[paper is missing] carried a child on her arm
[paper is missing] was very afraid for the child [?]
[paper is missing] [xx]t but it went well
[paper is missing] a boy fell headlong and
[paper is missing] [xxx xxx now ?] I am
[paper is missing] I am rather bored [?]
[paper is missing] as long as possible
[paper is missing] the day as short as
[paper is missing] went to Speronare and there
[between the lines:] Speronar
[paper is missing] yielded [?] the captain was in [?]
[paper is missing] [xx] again the captain has our [?]
[paper is missing] [xx]n told me that it
[paper is missing] [xx]n a Danish brig yesterday
[paper is missing] if I should like to follow
[paper is missing] with the captain I followed
[paper is missing] en [kexxae?] to the castle [?]


[beside the above passage:]
we did not see him on board but the hands [?]
said that he had gone ashore, where we met [him]
at the custom house together with the runaway
German. The captain seemed to be a kind person.
The captain as well as the German and I went together
to a coffee house and drank chocolate and later
from there to billiards, where I left them
and went to Francois and from there I went home
and had dinner. In the afternoon I stay at home
as it looks as if the weather will be fine and perhaps
I could get away
Second Day of Christmas Pavels, Schmidt,
Hansen
the steward and I were
at a Generalle [?] and saw the cathedral
and the sculpture of Paul and these [?] wonders [?] [paper is missing]


[Translated by Karen Husum]

General Comment

These are three drafts of entries in Thorvaldsen’s diary around the new year 1796-97during his stay on Malta, where he arrived on board the Danish frigate Thetis.


The first fragment is an exact copy of the ship’s chaplain, Peder Pavels’ diary for 18.12.1796, (cf. the printed version p. 42). Thorvaldsen was dyslexic and, probably because of that, not particularly inclined to commit his thoughts to writing, cf. Thorvaldsen’s Spoken and Written Language. However, he has obviously felt the need – or been asked – to write his own diary, so it must be assumed that the sculptor wanted to practise how to write a diary and therefore asked his friend and travelling companion to lend him his diary for that purpose.

The next two pieces of text are drafts of Thorvaldsen’s own
diary, i.e. the entries for the period 16.-18.1.1797 (actually 17.-19.1.1797).
There are several linguistic differences between these drafts and the finished diary, but the contents are the same. Further comments on the contents of the two drafts are to be found in the finished diary.

The last four lines have nothing to do with events of 17.-19.1.1797 but describe an excursion which Thorvaldsen, Pavels, and three members of the Thesis’ crew made on 26.12.1796 to some of the sights of Malta, among others the old capital of Mdina. This excursion is described by Pavels in his diary (cf. the printed version, op. cit., p. 50-55).

The fragments of the diary are very difficult to read, particularly because Thorvaldsen’s spelling, due to his dyslexia, was rather creative.

On the sheet there are also two pencil sketches of paintings that Thorvaldsen saw on Malta: One of the group of figures in Caravaggio’s famous The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist and the other of Penitent Magdalene, after Correggio, both still today in St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, cf. Sørensen & Schirò (eds.), op. cit., p. 91-93.

A large piece has been torn off the sheet resulting in a loss of text.

Document Type

Egenhændigt udkast

Archival Reference

m30 I, nr. 5-8

Thiele

Første del gengivet hos Thiele I, p. 72; de sidste fire linjer, gengivet Thiele I, p. 74.

Other references

Subjects

Persons

Commentaries

  1. Unlike the following two fragments, this first fragment is Thorvaldsen’s copy of Peder Pavels’ diary for 18.12.1796, cf. Pavels, op. cit., (p. 42 in the published version). The copy is identical to Pavels’ text with a few minor differences.
    Thiele published the passage (Thiele I, p. 72) in the belief that it was an excerpt from Thorvaldsen’s own diary.
    The mistake was discovered by Sven Sørensen, cf. Sørensen & Schirò, op. cit., p. 28 and p. 69 (note 27).


    Thorvaldsen must have asked Pavels’ permission to make the copy so that he could practise writing his own diary, which he was about to begin.


    Thorvaldsen and Pavels were both on board the Danish frigate Thetis.

  2. With these words, Pavels refers to the fact that the crew of the Thesis had just, on 18.12.1796, by the Maltese authorities been declared “rene”, i.e. “clean”, free of the plague infection, and therefore “frie”, “free” to go ashore.
    The Thetis had arrived on Malta 2.12.1796, and the crew had been quarantined until 18.12.

  3. The frigate Thetis arrived on Malta the first time 24.10.1796 and was quarantined for 40 days for the plague, as indicated below.

  4. Stavefejlen er Thorvaldsens egen og findes ikke i Pavels’ original.

  5. Dvs. ventelig, som man kunne vente, jf. Ordbog over det danske Sprog.

  6. Dvs. frygt.

  7. Dvs. ideal.

  8. The Danish naval officer, Lieutenant Claus Hvidtfeldt Blom, who was with Thorvaldsen on board the Thetis.

  9. The Danish naval officer Laurits Jensen Grove, who was with Thorvaldsen on board the Thetis.

  10. The Danish captain of the Thetis, Lorens Henrich Fisker.

  11. Dvs. officerer. Tydningen af den noget uforståelige forkortelse skyldes Pavels’ original.

  12. I.e. the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc (1725-1797).

  13. I.e. the Danish consul on Malta Joseph Abela (Habela).

  14. Dvs. marseillanske, fra Marseille.

  15. The number 23 has been changed, possibly from 33.
    Therefore, the entry seems to have been written on 23.1.1797 (or later) even though it describes earlier events.
    This may explain why Thorvaldsen apparently was in doubt as to whether the event described took place on the 16th or the 17th of January, cf. his correction of this number, too.

  16. The number 16 has been overwritten on 17, which Thorvaldsen had written originally.
    The date 17.1.1797, however, is the correct one for Thorvaldsen leaving the frigate Thetis, see the comment for this date in the finished “diary”:/dokumenter/ea8136.
    Thorvaldsen’s uncertainty about the dates and the fact that he wrote a draft of the diary indicate that he did not write the finished diary nor the draft daily but collected the material in larger portions.

  17. Dvs. fra.

  18. Dvs. have ondt ved, at have vanskeligt ved, se betydningen 1.2. af ond i Ordbog over det danske Sprog.

  19. Dvs. vicekonsulen.

  20. Dvs. vores.

  21. Dvs. lods, se pilot i Ordbog over det danske Sprog.

  22. The meaning of the expression is unclear. It is probably some Italian words spoken by Thorvaldsen’s Maltese captain, but it might also be a Danish abbreviation, e.g. noget forskelligt. However, Thorvaldsen writes non fors in the finished diary.

  23. Thorvaldsen omitted the remark about his melancholy in the finished diary. The meaning of the word, however, is uncertain as is the case in several places in these drafts.

  24. Thorvaldsen’s dog, Hector.

  25. I.e. the captain of the speronaro, i.e. the coastal vessel, which was to take Thorvaldsen to Sicily.

  26. A speronaro is a coastal vessel.

  27. A Danish ship had apparently arrived at the port of Valetta.

  28. Thorvaldsen’s dog, Hector.

  29. Dvs. ennuyere, kede, se Ordbog over det danske Sprog.

  30. Dvs. den bortløbne, deserterede, se Ordbog over det danske Sprog.

  31. Det vil antagelig sige flink.

  32. Dvs drak. Bogstavomvendingen synes at være et klassisk ordblindekarakteristika, som man støder på andre steder i Thorvaldsens skriverier. Se Thorvaldsens tale- og skriftsprog.

  33. Dvs. chokolade, sandsynligvis stavet som Thorvaldsen har udtalt det, nemlig med hans (lav)københavnske accent, se Thorvaldsens tale- og skriftsprog.
    I den mere færdige udgave af dagbogen staver han ordet soggelade.

  34. Dvs. billard.

  35. The person is probably Jean-François Guillaumier, see more about this in the comment to the finished diary.

  36. Thorvaldsen må mene eftermiddag, som han da også skriver i den færdige dagbog.

  37. The last four lines are an unused draft of the diary. The text is abruptly broken off because the paper has been torn off.
    The four lines describe an excursion on 26.12.1796 to, among other places, Mdina in the middle of Malta. The excursion is described in detail by Peder Pavels in his diary (the printed version, p. 50-55). Pavels mentions the same participants as Thorvaldsen.
    Thorvaldsen may have planned to start his diary already in December 1796, when the Thesis arrived on Malta, but this obviously did not happen.


    Thiele I, p. 74 reproduces the four lines with a few deviations.

  38. I.e. the Danish-Norwegian clergyman Peder Pavels.

  39. I.e. the Danish ship’s steward H.A. Schmidt.
    Thiele I, p. 74 reads the word as “samt” [og], but there is no doubt that Thorvaldses’s “Smet” refers to Schmidt because he is also mentioned in Pavels’ diary as one of the participants in the excursion on 26.12.1796, see the comment above.

  40. I.e. the Danish doctor Christian Georg Hansen.

  41. I.e. the Danish paymaster G. Rørbye.

  42. The word is difficult to read.

  43. The excursion on 26.12.1796 included a visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral in Mdina.

  44. The words are difficult to decipher. Thiele I, p. 74 thinks that Thorvaldsen intended to write “Pallas’s Støtte”.
    However, Thorvaldsens is more likely to have meant “Paulus’ Støtte”, i.e. a statue of Paul the Apostle precisely because he had seen two such statues during the excursion to Mdina and Rabat on Malta 26.12.1797. In Rabat there is a sculpture of Paul in St. Paul’s Church and another in St. Paul’s Grotto. The latter marble statue is by the Italian baroque sculptor Melchiorre Cafà (1636-67).
    See Pavels’ description of the two statues in his diary (the printed version, p. 53). Pavels emphasizes Cafà’s sculpture: “In the grotto is his [Paul’s] statue in marble, very well executed by Caffa.” This positive reference might reflect Thorvaldsen’s attitude and explain why the sculptor himself finds it worth mentioning Paul’s “statue” here.

  45. Thiele I, p. 74 thinks that the word should be read as wonders, but it is difficult to decipher the word, not least because the paper has been torn off here so that half the line is missing.

Last updated 27.08.2017