Thorvaldsen and Literature

All leading 19th-century Danish poets and writers such as Hans Christian Andersen, Adam Oehlenschläger and Christian Winther knew Bertel Thorvaldsen. And they all wrote poems, songs, fairy tales and stories relating to the world-famous sculptor and his art.

Extract from the poem entitled Natten (“Night”) written by Bertel Thorvaldsen’s friend Christian Winther and inspired by the sculptor’s relief by the same title.

Read, see and hear

At thorvaldsensmuseum.dk/litteratur we have assembled a small selection of such poems to enable you to read, see and hear the homage these writers of the 19th century paid to their great model Thorvaldsen. These are texts to be read aloud on festive occasions, texts reflecting Thorvaldsen’s works and texts devoted to Thorvaldsen himself.

Read them for yourself – or sit back and listen to the poet Tomas Thøfner reading a selection of poems from the Thorvaldsen archives.

The texts and readings are unfortunately all in Danish.