Thorvaldsen's Plaster Casts from the Antique And 1400-1800

by Jan Zahle

The Danish neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), who lived most of his life in Rome, was not only one of Europe's most sought-after artists; he was also a collector. In addition to his own works and drawings, he built extensive collections of paintings, prints, drawings and books and of ancient artefacts from Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquity: coins, lockets, containers, vases, lamps, fragments of sculpture and more. He also acquired a large collection of plaster casts, primarily after ancient sculptures and reliefs, but also of works dating from the Renaissance and up...