Reclining Venus. Jupiter. The Genius of Deaty(?) Fragment of a Self Portrait, 1807-1810
Pencil, pen and ink on paper. Inscriptions in pencil. 395 x 234 mm
Inventory number: C141v
Works, relating to this work: Thorvaldsen, Self Portrait, drawing, 1810. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Inv.no. I.N. 1025
Enlarge photoThorvaldsen worked for several years on the motifs in this drawing. A number of them, for instance the reclining figure of Venus, go back to the studies of Antiquity he undertook during his early years in Rome. In 1810, he executed both a very carefully prepared, sketched self-portrait and a closely related portrait bust. The detailed study in this drawing of the back of the head with the great shock of hair, so characteristic of Thorvaldsen, is directly related to both works.