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University College London

Thorvaldsen Drawings


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0103 MS ADD 77

Held at: University College London

Title: Thorvaldsen Drawings

Date(s): 19th century

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 3 volumes

Name of creator(s): Thorvaldsen | Bertel | d 1844 | Danish sculptor
Thiele | J M

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Bertel Thorvaldsen (or Thorwaldsen): born in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1768 or 1770; son of an Icelandic wood-carver who had settled in Denmark; studied at the Copenhagen Academy; arrived in Rome on a travelling scholarship, 1797; lived in Rome for most of his life, inspired by the Italian enthusiasm for classical sculpture; the success of Thorvaldsen's model for a statue of Jason (1803) attracted the attention of the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova andlaunched his internationally successful career; returned to visit Copenhagen, progressing through Berlin, Warsaw and Vienna, 1819; returned from Rome and settled in Copenhagen, 1838; a Neoclassical museum in Copenhagen, designed to house his collection of works of art (the models for his sculptures) and endowed with a large part of his fortune, was begun, 1839; died, 1844; buried at the museum endowed by him; his Neoclassical works were regarded by contemporaries as reincarnating the antique, but his reputation declined in the 20th century.

No information on J M Thiele could be found at the time of compilation, but he is presumably the author of Danmark 1845. fotografisk genoptryk af 'Kortfattet Beskrivelse af Den danske Stat', ed Richard G Nielsen (Odense, Historisk Topografisk Information, 1978, a facsimile reprint of the edition published in Copenhagen, 1845).

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Two volumes of drawings by Thorvaldsen and one volume of notes by J M Thiele.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Open.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Collection level description.

Detailed catalogue

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Unknown.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica online; British Library OPAC.

Date(s) of descriptions: 1999, revised Aug 2001


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Drawings | Visual materials
Sculptors | Artists
Illustrations

Personal names
Thiele | J M | fl 1845
Thorvaldsen | Bertel | d 1844 | Danish sculptor

Corporate names

Places