Soon after settling in Rome, Thorvaldsen opened a first studio (in an atelier previously used by John Flaxman), a practical milestone that enabled sustained production and professional visibility among patrons and artists in the city.
Thorvaldsen reached Rome during his Academy-funded study trip and later commemorated this date as his “Roman birthday,” marking the start of his long Roman career and immersion in antiquity and its scholarly circles.
Thorvaldsen completed an early model for Jason with the Golden Fleece, widely treated as his first major success in Rome and a catalyst for international attention and patronage.
A life-size clay Jason with the Golden Fleece was made in 1803 (with later translation into marble). This version is commonly identified as the first great work establishing Thorvaldsen’s mature neoclassical idiom.
Work toward the marble Jason is evidenced by a dated payment (3 August 1805) connected to Thorvaldsen’s arrangement with marble carvers—an anchor point in the statue’s long production history.
Thorvaldsen’s standing in Rome was formalized when he was elected to Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, reflecting institutional recognition of his prominence among European artists in the city.
Thorvaldsen started completing missing sections of the Aegina pediment sculptures in a classical style—highly influential restorations that later became controversial as museum ethics shifted away from extensive reconstruction.
During his Denmark visit period (1819–1820), Thorvaldsen provided the design/model for the Dying Lion (Lion of Lucerne) memorial, later carved into rock in 1820–1821 by Lukas Ahorn.
Thorvaldsen’s first major homecoming became a public cultural event: he was greeted by student deputations and honored at multiple celebrations in Copenhagen, underscoring his status as a national artistic figure while still based in Rome.
Thorvaldsen began producing the Christ (Christus) figure for the Church of Our Lady (Vor Frue Kirke) as part of the larger Christ-and-apostles program commissioned for the rebuilt Copenhagen cathedral interior.
Thorvaldsen served as president of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (for the 1827–1828 biennium), a major honor that reflects his central role in Rome’s official artistic establishment.
The marble Jason with the Golden Fleece—initiated from earlier models and commission arrangements—was completed in 1828, consolidating the sculpture’s reputation as a defining neoclassical masterpiece of Thorvaldsen’s Roman career.
Plans for a single-artist museum in Copenhagen accelerated in the late 1830s, supported by public fundraising and committees—an institutional bridge between Thorvaldsen’s Roman production and his Copenhagen legacy.
Thorvaldsen departed Rome to resettle in Denmark, beginning the journey that brought home his works and collections and repositioned him as a cultural presence in Copenhagen after decades abroad.
Thorvaldsen returned to Copenhagen to major public celebration, arriving aboard the frigate Rota—a defining moment for Danish national culture and for the transfer of his artistic estate toward a future museum framework.
Thorvaldsen formalized his legacy by sending a deed of gift to Copenhagen’s civic authorities, donating his works and collections on the condition that a museum be built to preserve and exhibit them.
Bertel Thorvaldsen in Rome and Copenhagen (1797–1838)
