Sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen at 250

A visual artist who played duets with Mendelssohn, a commoner who held the king of Bavaria in thrall, a largely unschooled man who drew the attention of Sir Walter Scott, and a Lutheran who won papal commissions, sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen was the most sought after Icelander of the 19th century. Today, 250 years after his birth, his bronze self-portrait is the only statue of a sculptor in a New York City park, standing in the East Meadow of Central Park. This statue shows him standing with his 1817 creation, Hope. “In essence, Thorvaldsen created a sculpture of a sculptor sculpting a sculpture,” in the words of one commentator.

Bertel Thorvaldsen's self-portrait
leaning on the goddess Hope.

Bertel Thorvaldsen was born at Grønngade 7 in Copenhagen on November 19, 1770, the son of an Icelandic woodcarver, Gottskálk Thorvaldsen, and his Danish wife, Karen Dagnes (sometimes referred to as Karen Grønlund, which may derive from a household where she worked as a servant). Bertel’s paternal grandfather was Rev. Þorvaldur Gottskálksson, priest of the church at Miklabær in Blönduhlíð, and his great-grandfather, also called Gottskálk, was known as a gifted woodworker and artist. Following Þorvaldur’s death, the younger Gottskálk and his siblings, Ari and Ólöf, moved to Copenhagen, although his sister appears to have later returned to Iceland. Gottskálk earned his living as a woodcarver, creating ornamentation for ships, and Bertel initially followed in his footsteps.

Growing up, he was “somewhat lazy and indifferent” as a student under the tutelage of Rev. Christian Frederik Høyer, a teacher and chaplain at Holmens Kirke, who nevertheless sat him at the head of his class after Bertel won a silver medal from the Royal Danish Academy of Art. A ship’s captain persuaded his father to let him study art on a part-time basis and Bertel won additional awards and recognition, and he was finally awarded a scholarship to study for three years in Rome. He arrived there on March 8, 1797, speaking only Danish, and while he was somewhat popular, he wasn’t especially productive. As the time for him to return to Denmark approached, having accomplished nothing, he began work on a model of Jason, which he destroyed. He made a second model and, on the very day he was to leave, he received a commission from Sir Thomas Hope to carve Jason in marble.

Instead of returning home, he remained in Rome for nearly another four decades, establishing himself as the leading sculptor in Europe. The commissions flowed in and he established a large studio with several apprentices to keep up with the work. Under the patronage of Baron Herman Schubart, Denmark’s ambassador to Naples, Bertel gained access to many of the leading personalities of the day. “He became a great favorite and was lionized by the ladies,” according to Hólmfríður Danielson. “This is not so strange for although he was almost totally without a formal education, he was by now well self-educated, and his grace and charm of manner made him a delightful companion.”

Ceramic replicas of Thorvaldsen's bas-reliefs
are often found on old Icelandic graves,
such as this depiction of Summer in
the churchyard at Tjörn on Vatnsnes

He visited Denmark in 1819, touring the continent en route, and was received as a national hero. While there, he received the commission to create the statuary for Vor Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady), the new national cathedral erected to replace the one that had been destroyed when the English Navy attacked Copenhagen in 1807. This led to his Christus and the twelve apostles, as well as a baptismal font that he created as a personal gift for the cathedral. 

Bertel Thorvaldsen is remembered as an exemplar of the neo-classical tradition. Hómlfríður Danielson observed that “although Thorvaldsen was undeniably bound by tradition and a classicist in his art there was a rich creative element in his handling of the subject matter, which is evident in his works.”

In 1837, Bertel gave his personal collection of his work to Copenhagen – a collection consisting of about 150 statues, 200 busts, and 350 bas-reliefs. He returned to the city to live in 1839. A campaign was launched to build a suitable facility to house the collection and the Thorvaldsen Museum was opened in 1848. Back in Copenhagen, Bertel lived in a flat at Charlottenborg Palace, the home of the Royal Danish Academy of Art, which he served as a councillor. His household included two widows, one of their daughters, and a young sculptor. He died on March 24, 1844, and his remains are entombed in the courtyard of the museum.

Describing the sense of awe inspired by Bertel Thorvaldsen’s work, Hólmfríður Danielson eloquently wrote: “As we stand in awe and admiration before the greatest works of arts we are lifted up into a higher sphere, as it were, and we realize that too much and too often we are concerned with the trivial, the petty things of life, instead of opening our minds to the lasting beauties that have been created by God and by man.”