The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-09 00:00:00

THORWALDSEN.

The first.efficient patron of this great artist was an
Englishman. In the year 1800, Thomas Elope, who
had heard of the skill of the young Dani-h sculptor
at Rome, ordered fi mil him a copy of his colossal
statue of " Jason," in marble, and enabled Bartel
Thorvaldsen to remain- and prosecute his studies in
the capital of the arts.
Thorvaldsen (it is thus be wrote his own name)
was born in 1770, during a journey made by his
family from Iceland to Copenhagen. His father,
Golskalk Thorwaldsen, was a carver of figure-heads
for ships, his mother the daughter of a clergyman.
The child showed an early disposition for drawing,
and was placed by his parents, whose circumstances
were narrow, at the Arts Academy of Copenhagen,
where he was received without charge. He began
early to exercise his skill, it is said, upon the figure-
heads at which his father laboured, and at which the
young Thorvaldsen would work when he carried his
dinner to the carver at the wharf. At the academy
he gained no prize, however, until 1787, and the
gre-at silver medal two years later, when the historical
painter, Abiidgaard took a fancy to him, and gave
him further instruction in the general principles of
art. In 1791, Thorvaldsen gained the small gold
medal for his composition of " Heliodorus chased
from the Temple," and at the same time the pa-
tronage of the Minister of State, Count Reventlow.
In 1793, his Mezzo-relievo of "Peter healing a Lame
Man at the Gates of the Temple," obtained for the
younf man the great gold medal and the . three-
years travelling studentship. But before- he took
-advantage of the means thus afforded to him for
visiting the wonders of art in the south, he. devoted
a couple of years to labour at home, and completed
several pieces of sculpture.
On the 20th of May, 1796, Thorvaldsen,leftCo-
penhagen in a Danish ship of war ; but the voyage of
the young sculptor was so tedious and dangerous that
he did not reach Rome till May, 1797, having passed
by Malta, Naple4, and Palermo. The presence of the
great works of art which here surrounded him; if they
inspired him with energy and emulation; filled him
often at the same time with despair ; and stories are
told of works which were completed by the young
man, and then broken to pieces and thrust aside in a
corner of his studio. However others might praise
him, he was the last to be contented with himself.
His three years' salary was come to an end, and he
'had.-made preparations to return to Denmark, with
the clay model of the Jason statue, which he had
completed for the academy (after having broken up
the first,figure of the natural size), when Mr., Hope
ordered the marble of him, and enabled him, by his
munificent remuneration, to remain in Rome. It is
, to" this timely. patronage that we probably owe much
that "has been left us by the greatest of modern
masters.

Wealth and honour now flowed in upon him. All the
great patrons of art throughout Europe were anxions
for, works from his hands, and he remained in Rome
until the year 1819, occupied with prodigious activity.
Raving to make a monument for the Swiss who fell
at Paris in 1792 (the wounded Lion), he determined
to visit the place where the monument was to be
erected, and at the same time to take the opportunity
of revisiting his native country. While in Copen-
h2gen the Government ordered from him statues of
the "Saviour," the "Baptist," and the " Twelve
Apostles," for the Frauenkirche, then newly built;
and it was with these works that he occupied himself,

especially on his return to Rome.
He returned to Copenhagen finally in 1837, having
completed, in the forty-two years of his labour, about
two hundred great works and a great number of busts.
A series of outlines from rhorvaldsen's works
(Stuttgard, 1839), from which the above biographical
sketch is taken, mentions the English possessors of
some of his principal pieces. Mr. Hope was the pur-
chaser of the " Jason," the " Psyche," and the " Genius
and Art ;" the Duke of Bedford of the has relief of
" Briseis ;" Lord Lucan of the famous " Day and
Night ;" Lord Ashburton of the " Hebe ;" and Lord
P. Eg'etton of the " Ganymede."

We have received the following from an eminent
sculptor, to whom Thorwaidsen was known, and the
detaili.he gives of the character .of the great
,man, of
whom he himself is a worthy disciple, and whose in-
tense loye of art for its own sake, he shares, will be
read with interest :
' "Before leaving England, Lady R— took me to
ChantrY's studio, that he might glve- me some advice
how to. study. A footman opened the door, and
Chantry's conversation was all about dukes and
royalty.' He never spoke a word to me, but sneered
several times at the idea of any one going to Italy to
study.
" Thr6e.weeks after that, one fine morning saw me
knocking at a door in a common stair on the Pincian,
hill at Rome, covered with names in chalk, a modes;.
adopted by people instead of leaving their cards, on:
not finding any one at home. I was fortunate ; and,
the artist
,himself opened the door, in a dressing
gown, oil and worn, and his long grey hair flowing
on his sheulders round a square-shaped head, a
broad and rather low forehead, under which shone a
pair of the Mildest grey eyes I had ever seen. Bene-
volence and simplicity marked his character. He
carried Xpiece, of clay in one hand; and a modelling
stick in-anoth,er. The room I entered, 'upon his cour-
teously asking us to do so (Wyatt,.the sculptor, was
with me), had a plain . tile. floor; the. tables. were
covered_ with prints and casts, and the walls were
hunq with early pictures of young artists and parts
'of hit- " Triumph of Alexander." He was making a
small model in clay of his equestrian statue of
" Maximilian of Bavaria." I used the name of Lady
11--, as commissioned to do. He immediately in-
vited me to call on him whenever I chose, at this, his
private studio; 'Enid said that any work I wished to
copy in•tlm,collection of his. works I was at liberty
to do ; that all that was necessary was to inform the
custode of the.studio, and the,work. would be brought
out for me; and that, if I no :materials of my
own, everything in that shaps-was .at ray service. I
lost rio time, and commenced- stklAT of ' Mer-
cury.' Every day this benevolent, and •• • and
true artist came into the,pTincipal studio about mid-
day; he would come up to me, Pr4se my work first,
and then point out errors, and as the most positive
language, take the'modelling tool himself, and by a
few strokes inform me of my error, and in a manner
which excited in me. the most devotional feeling to
this father in art.

" This conduct was uniform, and during my resi-
dence in Rome,- for two years, I never experienced
any difference. I had the use of his study whenever
I chose ; and whenever I got up a statue at my own
place Thorwaldsen ryas ever ready to come* from the
the Piazza Barbarini, to the *Piazza del Popolo, where
I was, to give me his advice ; he has come these two
miles in a day in July, found me out, written his
name on my door with a piece of chalk, and that he
would be hack in one hour, as it might be. He would
then go off to some other student to. perform a like
office, assist in arranging his draperies, and then re-
turn to me. All this he did for me, and be never
expected, and I never paid him one farthing. Similar
traits in his character are innumerable, and I believe
no artist yet asked his advice that he did' not feel
anxious to give it ; he really lived, as I have heard
him say au artist ought to do, for art itself. Though
simple in his manners, he was the companion of
princes, apparently estimating there only as they
loved art, and approximated to the artist. The present
King of BaVaria was his pupil and friend. The Giar-
dino di Malta, belonging to his Majesty opposite
Thorwaldsen's studio, was itself a studio. Everybody
loved Thorwaldsen, and the enthusiasm of his coun-
trymen, when he returned to Copenhagen, having
bequeathed the results of his long life to them, speaks
volumes as to theman.

" Among his principal works were the model of
the Triumph of Alexander, a bas relief, 140 feet
long and 3 feet high, conceived and executed in throe
months, Thorwaldsen having volunteered to execute
it for Napoleon's residence, the Pope's Palace, on the
Quirinal, showing the most masterly modelling ever
seen. His Mercury slaying Argus is unrivalled, and
among a collection of the -antique appears where it
ought to be. His equestrian statue of Poniatowsky
isnot equally worthy of him ; but
Po: large work,iatowskystanding is perfect, only eclipsed by
Flaxman's Sir John Moore. His great group of St.
John preaching in the Wilderness,- is charaterised by
a species of Raphaelesque expression, and one portion,
a youth leaning on the shoulder of an old man, Is the
most divine thing ever .seen the intellectual express
sion of calm old age, and the awakening intelligence
of the youth, elevate the soul to a degree net- to be
conceived unless seen. His Saviour and the Twelve
Apostles, a colossal work—Christ being eighteen feet
high, and the 'others twelve each—are wonderful
draperied figures, charaoteriStic to the highest degree
of the different men ; the draperies semi If one
could raise them, they are so exquisitely cast and
executed. His great monument oft he Pope riue, In
St. Peter's, contrasts unfavourably with Qanova, who
was the greatest artist of the two in the nudo—wit.
ness Pulamedes, the Nixus•Theseus, and the Centaur,
contrasted with Thorwaidsee's Mars; but In female
form and simple beauty of expression, Thorwaldsen
was immeasurably his superior, witness the contrast
of the two Liebe Night and. Morning, Hercules
and 10, and the multitude of beautiful little exqui-
site bas-reliefs Thorwaldsen was ever produciug, Art
must feel his loss as European ; and it is to the ho-
nour of our country that Mr. Hope gave him his
first commission, Jason with the Golden Fleeee, I
have always understood that Thorwaldsen was sent to
Rome by the academy at Copenhagen, having got a
passage to Naples in a Danish frigate, and that for
the first two years in Italy he did nothing except
study the German and Italian languages, and when •
his time was nearly expired he began his Jason,
which contrasted favourably with Canova's style; it
was a novelty ; it was seen abd appreciated by Mr.
Hope, and thus was fixed Thorwaldsen's career in
Rome,

" had a natural daughter, a very beautiful wo

man, wholin; been married to a Baron Gentle..=
man.of the Bedehami)er of the King of Denmark.
" lle was about five nine inch in h,i2lit •
and a porz.rait, him, which
may-be seen at Molten° is a pereet Lkeness."

AMERICAN PAPERS.
The following are from the file of American jour7
nali received by the Montezuma:—
_

A medical man, who has lived in Montreal for some
time, has been detected at the head of an organised
band of young thieves, who robbed under his direr-

tion and-carried their booty to him. A shopkeeper in
good circumstances and respectably connected is under
recognizance for no less a crime than that of breaking
through the partition wall of his own house, into his
neighbour's, and robbing him of property to a large
amount.

SHOCKING MURDER.—The Natchez Courier gives
the following particulars of a dreadful murder recently
perpetrated in Louisiana : . •

A Miss Demoss was killed about the 14th of Fe-
bruary, near ..Minden, Claiborne parish, Louisiana. '
She left the house of a neighbour in the evening to I
return to the house of her father, a respectable pitsuter,
but not arriving, a search was commenced, and a
young man, by name Lamb wright, was met in the
woods. Upon the searching party proposing to go up
a certain branch, he stated that it was no use, he 14.4
teenthere hunting, &c. They did go, however, and
_ _

found her dead. -She had I;een violated, severely'
beaten, and then :her head was held under water to
finish the work of death. Some other circumstances
have excited suspicion of Lambwright, but there is
no positiVe evidence aga.ins: -hini. He is. a young
man, married, with one child, and before his marriage
had addressed Miss I)enioss, and been by her rejected,.
GENERAL ROSAS AND HIS DAEGIITER.:--It is said
that Rosas has in vested largely in the English funds,wHl
an eye to a future loss of power, but at present there,
is no appearance of a change. His only family i$
daughter, Dona Manuelita—a young and uhmarried-
lady—handsoine, fond of music and of dancing, who
at her father's country residence a few miles out of
'1 the city, entertains his numerous visiters with eour!

tesy arid grace—part of the neture of a Spanish girl.
The general manner and modes of thought of the fair
sex of that fair region, as well as some features in
the character of Rosas, are well illustrated by an in-
cident—the truth of which lam sure of. Roma had
caught a certain Colonel, a bitter enemy, one of tl ;
" salvajos Unitarios," arid cut off his ears, presenting
them to his daughter. La Senorita Manuelita pre-
served them among the valuables of her parlour taillet
and when exhibiting her various curiosities, as
.young
ladies like to do, she would direct the especial atten-
tion of her visiters to the ears, and narrate, with
,$.
sparkling eye and a heightened. colour, that they one,
belonged to her father's enemy, the savage Unitalls2
Colonel.

AN OFFER PROMPTLY ACCEPTED. On &birth, f
morning the Editor of the Advertiser issued a call for
for "four hundred Whig subscribers" to his &Ulf
paper—the subscriptions ,to be paid if the Loco-Foe°
candidate for the Presidency should be successful-
But if, on the contrary, Henry Clay should succeed,
no pay would be required. When this offer became
known about town, subscription papers were open
at various places; and before night the " four hun-
dred Whig subscribers " were obtained.--Rochester
Democrat.

DEATH OF SALAZAR.—We have recently CCIPn•f.
versed with a man who left the neighbourhood
Santa Fe last summer, who gives us the particular!
of the death of the notorious Salazar, the miscreant
from whom the Texan Santa Fe prisoners receive •
such brutal treatment while in New Mexico. I,l°
viras out upon an expedition in the. Indian countrti,
stealing horses, and while thus engaged was waylaso
killed and scalped, and his body left a preytUtb.
buzzards and prairie Wolves—a fate similar to that•t°
which he consignedi,ome five or six of the unforttr•
nate Texan's who-o'w'e)e entrusted to his charge be"
tween San.Miguel"zatid El Paso del Norte. For the°
acts of intim' than barbarian cruelty he was ordered:
be tried by the Mexiein Government; but so isahsj
is Santa }e-that he fijund means to escape, A. Taal
cruel, relentless, heartless villain probably never
than Salaiar,. and it would almost seem an net of rr
tributive justice that he has thus fallen.,;—.Neseo"
leans Picayune. •-
Mr. Southard,. the late Treasurer of New jersg:
whose accounts were lately reported as showing a
on'
ficiency of between 4,000 and 5,000 dolls., has wri!%.l'
a Lotter to the Legiiliture, in which he offers to sear',
to the State by bend and mortgage upon Ntninca.,...'i:v-
bered real estate, the whole amount of the defalcate'
reported against him.
FFrom the New Orleans Piccryunet,of March
ATAL DUEL.—A fatal duel was fought on Thin"
day last at Vicksburg, between Mr. Hammet,
of the Vicksburg Whig, (and brother of the
iof Congress from Mississippi,) and Mr. .4yan, edit the Sentinel. They fought with pistols.At Wd,
fourth fire Mr. Ryan fell mortally wounded, WI
shot directly through the lungs. He died within tea
minutes. In two of the previous fires Mr. Itang•de
had been wounded, but the affair was allowed 04
ceed. Our readers may recollect that the same.
ties had before met and exchanged shots with, ",id.
and that the difficulty was then arranged
ground. They will remember, too, that Mr. or-',,,Ar
was the successor of Dr. Hagan in the editorial 410i3it'o
who .was killed within the last year.
STJPPOSED MURDER.—WhiIe some labourers We
employed clearing away the materials of houses
cently pulled down at the corner of Walnut !IL
Water-streets—a part of the city of notoriously:To•
repute—they discovered in the cellar the a hanliii
body, buried about six inches below the surface.
A4'
is the body of a female, evidently young, fo. ,r
teeth are quite perfget, habited in an ordinary Di
silk dress, blaelt hair, fastened up at the back of AL
head with a comb. The trunk of the body, then&
diieinhowelled by decay, is
.yet in a good 0014
preservation, but the flesh is quite gone freni
head and arms. On the head the hair is ilearlY
remaining. After the body was deposited irit
the earth, a thick coating of lime appears:de
have been poured over it, doubtless OF
double purpose of accelerating decay and .prrilliP'•
any offensive effluvia arising therefrom, TituiniF;s
in connexion with the fact of her being attired
ordinary everyday dress, there ban be little
that a murder has been committed. The h 04140
supposed to have lain there two or three years.
or four years ago a man named Roach resided- a tbs,_,*fir
house, who was a widower, and had a danghter,
eighteen years of age living with him. • nil?
married a'secorid flaw, and it was Well, linor,°' stsiV:
both he and his second wife severely ill-treate
daughter; for she was often sans "with het ae.2,4
black and her body bruised:- At -last she sadal"-*
„
disappeared, very soon after wilier' notion and.
wife abruptly left this country for -belated, and lb*/ •
not since been heard of. ' • ito
The Aurora says, "the young man sentenced te,:eo.
for aiding in the escape of a quadroon slav,,,t-as 1.
"—igo
pardoned by the Governor of South Curol'lna. ,
however, to be publicly whipped." '

t
DARING FEAT.—Mr. Daly s' Or.
, the celebrated• -top,
chase 'rider, betted a wager. with Mr. Sefton, Of ul-4...0
ham, that he would jump the rails and dyke in fral{ye
the Lincoln stand with the rein's in his mouth an d , ir
stirrups over the saddle; and which he cleverly (-
Vol«
complished after the second race, on a horse be b•A
crossed hefore.--Stamford Paper. i
BIRTHS. .io ,
On the 31st ult., at Hamburgh, the wife of CaP.l-7 ~
Martin, Mexican Vice-Consul, of a daughter.
~,,„0
On the 4th inst., at Upper Seymour-street, Euston-'x
Mrs. Taylor, of a son. • 000 r
Ou the 4th inst., at Reading, the lady of Major- .
Tickell,*C.B., Bengal Engineers, of a son.
On the 4th inst., at Chester, the lady of Sir ..fr it,
Walker, of a son.
~,,..• 14XP On the sth inst., at John-street, Berkeley-squar- ' '
/
.
Harry Surman, of a son.
' On the sth inst., at Kilburn, Mrs. Edward Hodgol7)*
a daughter.
' effr On the sth inst., at Henlow, Bedfordshire, the
..iift
...-
Stuart, Esq., of.a daughter. , - '..i;/
rer -
On the 6th inst., in Montagu-place, Bryanstr4o.sq3l-.7..-
lady of H. P. Gippe, Esq., of a son. / •
." .tlO
On the 6th inst., at Gordon-place, TaN:istock-gi_dr,
- '. ~
lady of John Fenton, Eiq., of a son.
.-
_,- sac'''.
On the 6th inst., at St. John's-terrace, Park-roat4
well, the lady of the Rev. A. W'albaum, of a daughter' '
....-.

• ilkdißß/ED. • - 04'
On the 16th ofJawattrY, at St. George's Church, CO° Val
Cape of Good Hope, Thomas William Green, Es t i1e.,,,a, . . .
• Jane, youngest daughter of the late A. Barker, •L'7 -
Waterford, Ireland.
• i s 01911
On the 4th inst., at St. Mary's, Hornsey, George,bbter 1'
Rsq., f Sewardstone, Essex, to Eleanor, eldest cm", '
/ ,„
Charle; Perrot; Esq., of Highgate. v 109; Oir the 9th hist,, at St. Olive's, Hart-street, -1-liodour
Hurst, only child of the late Jcseph Hurst, Esq., of 'O6lO.
•to.u-place, to Helen, second daughter of Mr. Thomas
1 Jobs
son, of Mark-lane. .
•e, Jo
On the 6th inst., at St. George's, Hanover-squat. -14 o:r,
Lawrence, Esq,, of Brunswick House, Windsor, to EhzAri
daughter of Henry Saunders, Esq., Winchester Tower, '
sor Cast!.
d .sillirf
• On the Gth inst., at Headley, Thomas Lacy, - btero
arms yard, Esq., solicitor, to Marianna, eldest dougrey. ,
Captain Gustav-us Evans, R.N., of ITeadlergro_________ve, 11_,.-r ,----

pi 14