Albert, Or
"Bertel," As He Is More Generally Called, Was Accustomed During His
Youth To Assist His Father In His Labours On The Wharf.
At an early
age he visited the Academy at Copenhagen, where his genius soon
began to make itself conspicuous.
At the age of sixteen he had won
a silver, and at twenty a gold medal. Two years later he carried
off the "great" gold medal, and was sent to study abroad at the
expense of the Academy. In 1797 we find him practising his art at
Rome under the eye of Zoega the Dane, who does not, however, seem to
have discovered indications of extraordinary genius in the labours
of his young countryman. But a work was soon to appear which should
set all questions as to Thorwaldsen's talent for ever at rest. In
1801 he produced his celebrated statue of "Jason," which was at once
pronounced by the great Canova to be "a work in a new and a grand
style." After this period the path of fame lay open before the
young sculptor; his bas-reliefs of "Summer" and "Autumn," the "Dance
of the Muses," "Cupid and Psyche," and numerous other works,
followed each other in rapid succession; and at length, in 1812,
Thorwaldsen produced his extraordinary work, "The Triumph of
Alexander." In 1819 Thorwaldsen returned rich and famous to the
city he had quitted as a youth twenty-three years before; he was
received with great honour, and many feasts and rejoicings were held
to celebrate his arrival.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 310 of 329
Words from 82565 to 82819
of 87606
