At a glance
Explore the private aesthetic world of sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen through a collection of 19th-century paintings that move beyond traditional Danish Golden Age tropes into dramatic, Mediterranean scenes.
Why go
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Don't miss
Artlovers Tip
Look for the Norwegian Mountain Valley by J.C. Dahl to see a stark contrast between the rugged northern wilderness and the warm, sun-drenched Italian scenes nearby.
Don't miss J.C. Dahl’s Norwegian Mountain Valley (1821) and C.W. Eckersberg’s Sleeping Woman in Antique Garment, the Wet Nurse of Alcyone (1813) are highlights, but seek out the less familiar works too.
Artlovers relevance
Inside the exhibition
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Description
Life, Longing & Landscape – Thorvaldsen's Painting Collection at the Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, presents the personal art assembly of the celebrated sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. Displayed across nine newly renovated galleries, the exhibition features a significant selection from his collection of over 350 paintings, which originally formed part of the museum's 1848 debut.
The works represent a departure from the typical, restrained narratives of the Danish Golden Age. Visitors will encounter dramatic landscapes, saturated colors, and theatrical scenes by international artists like Károly Markó the Elder and Dietrich Wilhelm Lindau. These are paired with iconic Danish names such as C.W. Eckersberg and Constantin Hansen, showing how Nordic artists were transformed by their travels to Rome and Munich.
By bringing pieces out of storage that were previously considered outside the art-historical canon, the museum reveals Thorvaldsen's specific taste for narrative and emotion. The galleries are organized around themes of everyday life in Italy, romantic ruins, and untamed nature, reflecting the 19th-century longing for southern light and atmosphere.
Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844) was Denmark’s great Neoclassical sculptor and one of the most internationally successful European artists of his generation. He spent around four decades in Rome, where he became deeply embedded in the international community of artists, patrons and collectors.
His painting collection therefore offers something unusually personal: the art that an important artist chose to live with himself. Rather than asking what Thorvaldsen made, this exhibition lets us ask what attracted his eye.
Worth travelling for?
A sophisticated choice for those who enjoy 19th-century painting and want to see how a legendary sculptor's private collection challenges standard art history narratives.
Experience as an Artlover
Start in the galleries focused on Italian life to understand the influence of the Grand Tour before moving into the dramatic landscapes that define the collection's romantic spirit.
