Thorvaldsen was on friendly terms with the painter Vernet, who was Director of the French Academy in Rome from 1829 to 1835. The two artists exchanged portraits: Thorvaldsen’s original life-size portrait bust of Vernet in marble is today in the Musée Calvet in Avignon, while Vernet’s painted portrait of Thorvaldsen hangs in the collection of paintings on the museum’s upper floor in Gallery 23. This large-scale marble version of the Vernet bust was started in Rome in 1834, but was only completed in 1856 in Copenhagen by H.W. Bissen.
