Bertel Thorvaldsen

In November 1894 a photographer by the name of Frederik Riise offered the governing body of Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen the chance to buy Aymard-Charles-Théodore Neubourg´s portrait daguerreotype of the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. When Riise approached the museum, the daguerreotype was in the possession of the photographer to the Swedish royal court, Johannes Jaeger, and Riise was acting on his behalf. The story goes that the chairman of the governing body, architect Ferdinand Meldahl, did not think purchase of the daguerreotype would be of any interest to the museum. This decision could have been taken for financial reasons.
But even if the price was high, it seems extremely surprising to us today that the authorities at the museum did not consider the daguerreotype to be a vital addition to the collection, or think that a photographic representation of the most famous Danish artist of all time would be of crucial importance to a broader understanding of Thorvaldsen the man. One would have thought that every effort would have been made to acquire it. As this was not the case, we could be led to believe that the impression of Thorvaldsen given by the daguerreotype was at total odds with the one given by the plentiful supply of other visual and literary representations of the great sculptor. Indeed, it might very well have blighted the preferred impression of Thorvaldsen considered appropriate to hand down to future generations. Fortunately, Thorvaldsens Museum was offered the daguerreotype again at a later date, and purchased it in 1909.