Thorvaldsen , Bertel , d 1844 , Danish sculptor Thiele , J M

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).