Bertel Thorvaldsen

Bertel Thorvaldsen - Studies with Wiedewelt and Abildgaard; early successes and promotion

Bertel Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen on 19th November 1770. The artist himself - probably in good faith - always gave 1768 as the year of his birth, but research has since corrected this date. Bertel Thorvaldsen was artistically imprinted by his father, the Icelandic woodcarver Gotskalk Thorvaldsen, who had sought his fortune in Denmark. At the age of eleven, Bertel attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, where he was initially taught by the sculptor Johannes Wiedewelt, but above all by the painter Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard. His great talent was recognised early on with awards, whilst the minister Christian Detlev von Reventlow was among his first admirers, who subsequently supported Thorvaldsen's studies financially. A further scholarship, which the artist had received in conjunction with a gold medal, enabled Thorvaldsen to travel to Rome, which he was only able to embark on late due to the already glittering number of commissions at the time.

Fruitful trip to Italy; Jason as a ground-breaking masterpiece

Bertel Thorvaldsen found his trip to Italy a fruitful experience, which he later praised as his Roman birthday; in Rome he euphorically called himself ‘Sculptore Alberto’ and studied the abundant visual material of ancient art under the wing of the knowledgeable archaeologist Georg Zoëga. Thorvaldsen received further support in Italy from the German painter Asmus Jacob Carstens, who was also living in Rome. Thanks to his extraordinary achievements, the artist was able to obtain two extensions to his scholarship, but despite these successes, he often had to struggle with financial shortfalls during this time. The English banker Thomas Hope commissioned a marble statue of the Greek mythical hero Jason, whose masterful execution not only earned Thorvaldsen the praise of fellow Italian sculptor Antonio Canova, but also brought him his final breakthrough as an internationally acclaimed artist. In 1805, Berthel Thorvaldsen finally became a full member of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. 

Prestigious commissions for the Emperor, Cardinal and Pope

Bertel Thorvaldsen received several commissions from Napoleon Bonaparte, including a monument in honour of Nicolaus Copernicus. A creative crisis led the artist to temporarily retreat to Livorno where he regained the necessary inner calm and created some of his most impressive works. He taught for a time at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, but often returned to Italy. After he had decorated the sarcophagus of Cardinal Ercole Consalvi's, the latter also commissioned him to design the tomb monument for Pope Pius VII - the tomb of the head of the Catholic Church is one of the Protestant Thorvaldsen's most important works. From around 1815, Thorvaldsen was also active as a patron of the arts and bought the paintings of various young artists to support them. The paintings from this impressive collection became the property of the City of Copenhagen after Bertel Thorvaldsen's death. Among the master's collaborators and students were illustrious names such as Herman Wilhelm Bissen, Luigi Bienaimé, John Gibson and Wolf von Hoyer.

Bertel Thorvaldsen died on 24 March 1844 in his birthplace and hometown of Copenhagen. He never married, but left behind a daughter from his liaison with Anna Maria Uhden. An older son had drowned in an accident in 1811.