Bertel Thorvaldsen (1768–1844) with the Bust of Horace Vernet  1833

The internationally celebrated Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen spent most of his working life in Rome. He befriended Vernet during the latter's tenure as Director of the French Academy in Rome, between 1829 and 1835. The marble bust represented here was given by Vernet in 1835 to the Musée Calvet, Avignon; the original plaster mold is in the Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenha...