Contents of the Letter Archives

On completion, the publication of the project will include all documents in Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Letter Archives in Thorvaldsens Museum. These are mainly draught letters and letters to and from the sculptor, but also other documents, for instance travel permits, poems in honour of Thorvaldsen, letters of recommendation and lists of things to remember.
Most of these documents were found in Rome after Thorvaldsen’s death. The Letter Archives in Thorvaldsens Museum have since been regularly supplemented through donations and purchases. In addition to the museum’s own collection of letters, the virtual Letter Archives will also include letters to, from and about Thorvaldsen, which are to be found in other archives both in Denmark and abroad.

The Terms Letter and Letter Archives

For philological and practical reasons, the term letter is used here, both in this guide and in the database as a whole, in its broadest sense, i.e. a brief written communication, cf. the Latin “breve scriptum”. Thus, the term covers all documents in the database irrespective of their heterogeneity. In the commentaries to the individual document, however, there is a clear identification of the type of document in question.
The virtual letter archives, which are termed the Letter Archives below, are in the process of publication until 2011, and new materials will regularly be placed on the Internet.
If a fruitless search is made for letters known to exist in a physical shape in the cupboards containing the archives in Thorvaldsens Museum, this will be because the document has not yet been published on the Internet. In this case, reference should be made to: brevarkivet@thorvaldsensmuseum.dk

Copyright and Quotations

For information regarding copyright for the texts in the Letter Archives and conditions governing quotations, please see Copyright.

Overall Structure and Navigation

The Letter Archives are divided into five main categories:
Letters, Chronology, Subjects, Persons and About.
The first four categories constitute the central, source-based parts of the database, while About contains practical information such as How to Use the Archives, Editorial Principles, and an article on the historical background of the Letter Archives.
The five categories are always shown at the top of each page, enabling you quickly to find your bearings and to navigate wherever you want to go. A click on a main category will bring related sub-categories into view.
The ocherous coloured marking of a category or sub-category indicates that you are in this category.
A search field is linked to every main category enabling a search to be made in the selected category.
In addition, the database is linked in all directions by means of tens of thousands of links that can quickly take the user to supplementary information in other parts of the database.
Small blue crosses [+] indicate that a click on the cross will bring up further information.

The front page of the Letter Archives shows the central search page Search the Letters in the main category of Letters. From here, it is possible to search high and low in all the letters in the database and in commentaries linked to them. The database is arranged so as to provide the best possibilities for the user. The search function is advanced, but at the same time it is as self-explanatory and user-friendly as possible. If you need help, you will find it useful to read the Letter Archives’ Search Tips below. A direct link to these is also to be found at the top right in all search pages. If you would like a more detailed explanation of the considerations behind the structure of the database, you can read more in the article New Order and also below under The Design of the Letter Archives.

Letters

Under the category of Letters it is possible to choose to search independently on the central search page Search the Letters, or you can obtain a chronological overview of letters from individual years by choosing the page entitled The Letters Year by Year. Like the chronological overviews of individual years, the result of a search shows the letters as square boxes containing a date link to the specific letter and the basic information relating to the letter (sender, recipient and part of the letter’s abstract).
Immediately beneath the search field the number of hits in the Letters category is indicated, as well as the number of hits in the Related Articles category in order to make the reader aware that there might be more relevant information to be found there.

The Individual Letter

The Layout of Data in the Letters

The actual text of the letter is at the centre of the page on a pale grey background and with a different typography from the rest of the database. In this way there is a clear distinction between the original source and the added commentaries.
If the text of the letter has been translated, the translation can be obtained by clicking on [Translation] at the top right. To return to the original text, click again on [Translation].
In the letter text, passages commented on are marked in blue. A click on the marked text will show the commentary on the passage on the right hand side of the page. The commentary can be hidden again by clicking on the small cross in the top right corner.
The sender, date and recipient of the letter are shown above the letter text. Each of these fields is followed by a small blue cross [+]. A click on this will produce information on respectively the place from which the letter was sent, information on the sender (for instance information on the seal or address), the basis for the dating and information on the place where the letter was received as well as information on the recipient (for instance the address on the letter). This information can be removed by clicking again on the blue cross.

Abstract

Immediately below the information on the sender, recipient and date of the letter, there follows a brief abstract of the letter’s contents. By clicking on [Translation] in this section it is possible to switch between Danish and English abstracts.

General Comment

Beneath the actual letter text follows the General comment, in which for instance ambiguities in the contents of the letter are clarified or the letter is placed in a broader context.

Archival Reference

Archival reference indicates where the original document is to be found. If nothing else is indicated, the reference is to Thorvaldsens Museum.

Document Type

Document type applies exclusively to letters from Thorvaldsen and indicates whether the letter was written by Thorvaldsen himself (autograph letter), whether it is a draft by Thorvaldsen himself (autograph draft), or whether an amanuensis or secretary wrote the letter for Thorvaldsen. In the latter case distinction is similarly made between letters and drafts.

Amanuensis

Any amanuensis, see Document type above, will appear in the field bearing that name. If the amanuensis in question requires further comments, these will be shown in the field Comment on amanuensis. See also the related article on Thorvaldsen’s amanuensises.

Thiele

Under the heading of Thiele there are references to Thorvaldsen’s first biographer Just Mathias Thiele’s volumes on Thorvaldsen. The separate references to Thiele’s works are given because of their status as primary sources in the Thorvaldsen literature. Thiele was the first person systematically to examine and structure Thorvaldsen’s posthumous documents.
Thiele’s four-volume biography from 1851-56 is for instance referred to as:
Thiele I, p. 45; Thiele IV, p. 56-59.
Thiele’s earlier work in four volumes, Den danske Billedhugger Bertel Thorvaldsen og hans Værker, 1831, 1832, 1848 and 1850 is referred to for instance as:
Thiele 1831, p. 76; Thiele 1848, p. 11.

Other References

Other references lists references to the letter found in other sources or in literature other than Thiele’s standard works.

Missing Fields

If there is no information relating to Document type, Amanuensis, Thiele or Other references, these fields are not shown in relation to the document.

Arrangement of the Letters

The letters are arranged chronologically, and it is possible to move backwards and forwards between the letters by clicking on the arrows at the top right of the letter page. The numbering (e.g. No 34 of 581) indicates the position of the letter in the general chronologically arranged main body of letters and is not to be understood as an archival term. The number of the individual letter can thus be changed when further letters are placed in the Letter Archives, in the same way as the overall number of letters is increased in step with the completion of the database.
The actual position of the letter in the archives is indicated under the heading of Archival reference, see above.

Chronology

A synchronological column is shown under the category of Chronology. The chronology is divided into four columns: Date, Events, Whereabouts and Works and thus documents every single year in Thorvaldsen’s life and later. A click on the individual dates on the far left of the page will show the sources constituting the background for the dating. It is possible here to discover the scholarly basis for the dating.
The columns Events, Whereabouts and Works can be studied at the same time (synchronologically) or separately, allowing only one or two categories to be shown at a time.
You can navigate by clicking through the list of years or looking in the search field for a specific year or word.
The chronology is closely linked to Thorvaldsen’s life and oeuvre, but years after his death are nevertheless included for the sake of Thorvaldsen related events or works that have taken place or been executed during this period.

Subjects

The category Subjects contains both a Subject Index for the Letter Archives with a series of subject words and also a series of informative Related Articles on selected subjects.

Subject Index

Under each separate subject word in the Subject Index it is indicated how many documents in the Letter Archives relate to the subject. It can also be seen whether a related article is linked to the subject word.
A more detailed overview of the letters linked to the subject word emerges by clicking on the actual subject word. The overview shows the sender, receiver and abstract for each letter and also possible links to related subject words and related articles.

Related Articles

The Related Articles are primarily concerned with subjects or questions related to several letters and documents. The articles aim to create an overview of subjects considered to be of particular interest or importance. Consequently, they are not of a strictly systematic nature, but relate more freely and interpretatively to the material than the commentaries in the individual letters. At the end of each related article there is a list of the relevant letter sources in the Letter Archives and other references.
Among the related articles other source material from the archives in Thorvaldsens Museum is published – such as Thorvaldsen’s Diary 1797 or Thorvaldsen’s Album. In addition, there are articles on other subjects relating to Thorvaldsen, for instance On the cause of Thorvaldsen’s death.

Persons

The index of names includes all persons and institutions to which reference is made in the source material of the Letter Archives. The index is arranged alphabetically. The biographies are focused on the artistic and/or personal relationship between Thorvaldsen and the person in question. This means that information on achievements and careers are only included insofar as they are relevant to our knowledge of Thorvaldsen or if it is thought to be difficult to find the information elsewhere. For further information on generally known figures, you are referred to biographical encyclopaedias. In the case of Danes, a standard reference would be Dansk Biografisk Leksikon.

Factbox and Standard of Names

The factbox on the right hand side of the biography contains information on the person’s name, dates, nationality and profession.
In cases where the person’s name varies, both the customary and the full name are written along with possible variations of the spelling. As the standard for spelling artists’ names, we conform to ULAN, the Union List of Artist Names apart from Danish artists, where we follow the spelling in Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon. For Danes who are not artists, we use the spelling in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon.

In order to make the search for the professions of those whose biographies are included as complete as possible, the factbox only contains general terms for people’s professions – for instance painter instead of miniaturist. However, the more detailed biography compensates for this generalisation by specifying the person’s profession where this is considered necessary.

About the Letter Archives

In addition to the present How to Use the Archives, the category About the Letter Archives also contains Editorial Principles, an article on The History of the Letter Archives, a list of Contributors, Acknowledgements, a page concerning Copyright and a Contact page providing information on how to send comments and corrections to the Letter Archives.

Printing from the Letter Archives

If you wish to print a letter with its associated commentaries, you click on Print at the bottom right of the page. On the other hand, if you only want the letter text and the most basic information relating to it, i.e. the letter as it appears on the screen, you should merely click on the browser print button.
The same distinction can be made in an individual related article – if you click on Print at the top right of the page, the article with associated commentaries will be printed. If you click on the browser’s print button, the article is printed as seen on the screen.
On certain pages there is no special need for a print function, and you should therefore use the browser print button.

Links to Unfinished Material

The Letter Archives are full of links between letters, related articles, chronological entries and individual biographies.
In certain cases, these links can lead to a letter on which the commentary is not yet complete or to an unfinished related article.
These incomplete elements occur due to the fact that the publication of the Letter Archives is an on-going project. During the publication period until 2011, it will for practical reasons be more efficient to establish these work-in-progress links to, for instance, a letter in its “raw state” without commentary rather than no link at all. The publishers hope that these temporary deficiencies in the commentaries will merely further the desire to return to Letter Archives again and again.

References to Literature

No complete bibliography has been compiled of the literature used in the Letter Archives. Instead, literature is listed in connection with the document in relation to which it is quoted.
This decision was reached on the assumption that, unless it was in the form of a commentary, the list would be far too long and offer contents of a highly disparate nature.
The library in Thorvaldsens Museum constitutes the main source of the literature used, but apart from this there are countless references to other literature that is only indirectly concerned with Thorvaldsen – on the postal services at that time, coinage, research into 19th-century albums etc. Further, there are references to unpublished material in other archives and to other homepages and databases on the Internet. Altogether this may seem to be a heterogeneous confusion, but as the relevant references are specifically listed under the primary sources, they are always accessible in a clear and usable form.
Only on occasion are there references to standard encyclopaedias such as Thieme-Becker, Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon and Dansk Biografisk Leksikon.

The Design of the Letter Archives

The layout of the Letter Archives has been designed as clearly and simply as possible for two reasons: In a stylistic sense, the Letter Archives can be placed in the wake of the cleansed form of Neo-Classicism of which Thorvaldsen was an exponent. In a practical sense, disturbing colours and elements have deliberately been avoided in order to make the letter base as comprehensible as possible. Illustrations are used insofar as they are relevant to the text and in order to pass on yet a further element in the physical and historical nature of the archives.

Explanation of Used Colours

The three primary colours in the design of the Letter Archives were chosen in the first instance from Gottlieb Bindesbøll’s palette for Thorvaldsens Museum and secondly on the basis of the practical considerations required by a digital reproduction on screen.

Ochre links indicate the general navigation. Within the five main categories at the top of each page, the marking thus indicates in what category of the Letter Archives you are. Ochre is also used to mark functions such as print and resetting of search fields and also to indicate links leading to other overarching parts of the Letter Archives. For instance, for showing letters from 1798, chronologies from the whole of 1803 or sub-categories within the category About the Letter Archives.

Blue date links lead to specific letters and within the individual letters other blue links refer to commentaries – either in the form of a marked text or a [+].

Red links lead to further information from the following areas in the database: Chronology, Subjects and Related articles and also to index of names, i.e. internal links.

Grey links lead to materials on homepages outside the Letter Archives.
Dependent on browser settings, links already visited will either turn grey or retain their colour. In either case, they will still be active links. See more on this under browser settings below.

Recommended Settings

Setting the Appearance of the Typography on the Screen

As the Letter Archives are naturally very rich in text pieces, their appearance on the screen is very important. We recommend that the screen should be set to the highest resolution and display the typography in clear type. However, there are great variations in what people find to give the best readability.

Clear Type

Clear type is chosen under Properties for screen, Appearance and Effects (in case of Windows XP). In Windows 2000 this is called Smooth out fonts on Screen fonts and is chosen under Properties for screen under Effects. The screen resolution in general is set to Properties for screen and Preferences, which appear with a right click on the desktop.
Mac users will not normally need to change screen settings.

Recommended Browser

The Letter Archives work with all current browsers but are in the first instance designed for Firefox, which is particularly to be recommended and can be downloaded free here.

Recommended Browser Settings

If you want used links to change colour, you must set your browser to remember pages visited for at least one day. If you do not want this, the browser is set to 0 days. In most browsers, this is done by going to Functions and (Internet-) Preferences and then setting the time frame for the browser’s memory.

Search Tips

The search in the Letter Archives is made as self-explanatory and powerful as possible. In the vast majority of cases, it will be sufficient to write one or more search words in the search field in order to find the desired subject matter or material.
The free text search is based on Google’s simple principles, i.e. with the possibility of limiting the search with AND, OR and NOT (so-called Boolean operators). To this is added wildcard searches using *. See examples of this below.

Searching in All the Search Fields of the Base

Search	Result with link to search example
thetis	All letters in which Thetis appears
thetis gotskalk	All letters, in which both Thetis and Gotskalk appear (corresponding to a search with AND, i.e. thetis AND gotskalk)
thetis OR gotskalk	All letters where one or both words appear
abildgaard NOT nicolai	All letters in which Abildgaard, but not Nicolai appear
römisch*	All letters in which words beginning with römisch appear
*akademi	All letters in which words ending with akademi appear
*akad*	All letters in which the letters akad appear
“thorvaldsen asks”	All letters in which the phrase Thorvaldsen asks appears
a822	All letters in which the Thorvaldsens Museum inventory number A822 (= Jason with the Golden Fleece) appears

There is no distinction between upper-case and lower-case letters.

Searching by Marking Search Words

Simple searches for words such as thetis, gotskalk or commission in the search field will, when you click on to the search result, provide pale blue markings of the search word on the individual pages.
If the search word is in the comments to a letter, the relevant place in the letter will be marked, so it can be seen in which comment the search word appears. If the search word is located in hidden texts on, for instance, the place from which the letter was sent and the basis for dating, the small crosses opposite these will be marked in pale blue.
Search marking is shown exclusively on whole words and thus cannot be used in combination with *.

Removal of Search Marking

If you wish to remove the pale blue marking of the search result, this can be done by removing the last part of the URL address in the browser’s navigation line, i.e. from: ?highlight=…, after which you click on “enter”. The page will now be updated and the search marking will disappear.
Alternatively, you can click on to the next letter – or back to the previous one – by using the circular arrow keys at the top right of the letter page. You then click back to the desired letter, and the search marking will now disappear.

Missing Marking of Search Word

If you fill in the search field for a profession, a nationality, a life span or a name (for instance sculptor, Icelandic, 1743-1809 or Abraham) it may happen that no search word has been marked on a page, even though the search produced a result. This apparent confusion occurs because these four categories through the personal biography are linked to the person who appears as the sender or recipient of the document. The search word therefore does not appear directly in the document, but in the information linked to the person or to the relevant biography. This structure enables more advanced searches in nationality and profession in combination with the categories checked in the main search pages Search the Letters, see below.

Advanced Search Possibilities on the Page Search the Letters

A special feature is the advanced search possibilities on the page Search the Letters below the search field. Here it is possible to limit the search by marking check boxes and/or using the pull down menus. You may limit your search for instance to a period, a sender or a language, or to quickly finding something quite specific by combining several searches at the same time.

Time-Limits

All searches can be combined with a limited period searching, or the Time-Limit field can be used alone.
Dates are written as: day.month.year divided by full stop and without a space between or superfluous noughts, for instance: 31.12.1799 or 1.5.1805. It is also sufficient merely to give the month.year or the year alone, for instance: 10.1824 or 1835.

Search	Result with link to search example
From: 1823	All letters from and 1823 and thereafter
To: 1811	All letters up to and including 1811
From: 1793 To: 1800	All letters from the period 1793-1800
From: 1.8.1823 To: 5.1835	All letters from the period 1 August 1823 to the end of May 1835

Select from Index

Search	Result with link to search example
Sender: Thorvaldsen, Gotskalk	All letters from Gotskalk Thorvaldsen
Language of document: Italian	All letters in Italian
Recipient: Abildgaard, Nicolai Document type: Autograph letter	All autograph letters from Thorvaldsen to Nicolai Abildgaard
Sender: Thorvaldsen, Bertel Language of document: Italian	All letters sent by Thorvaldsen in Italian
Recipient: Thorvaldsen, Bertel Sender’s nationality: German	All letters sent to Thorvaldsen from Germans

Limit or Combine Your Keyword Search

NB The search field should always be filled in when using the check boxes.

Search	Result with link to search example
præst with Occupation checked	All letters in which clergymen (præster) appear as senders or recipients
præst with Sender and Occupation checked	All letters in which clergymen (præster) appear as senders
rom with Sender’s location checked	All letters sent from Rome
rom with Sender’s location and Recipient’s location checked	All letters sent from and received in Rome
NB If you search as in the three examples below both with several checked boxes and several words at a time, the words in the search field must be separated by “OR”.
malta OR m1 with Sender’s location and Archival reference checked	All letters sent from Malta and placed in the archives under m1
maler OR rom with Occupation and Recipient’s location checked	All letters sent by or to a painter (maler) and received in Rome
rom OR abild* with Sender’s location and Recipient checked	All letters sent from Rome and received by persons whose names start with abild

Combined Searches

The various types of searches can also be combined in numerous ways in order to limit the search further. However, the search field must always be filled in when using the check boxes.

Search	Result with link to search example
Search field: kunstakad* Time-Limit: From: 1793 To: 1820 Recipient: Thorvaldsen, Bertel from index	All letters to Thorvaldsen in the period 1793-1820 containing the initial phrase kunstakad
Search field: arkæolog Recipient: Thorvaldsen, Bertel from index Sender’s nationality: Danish Check box: Occupation	All letters from Danish archaeologists (arkæologer) to Thorvaldsen
Search field: københavn Time-Limit: From: 1838 To: 1844 Sender: Thorvaldsen, Bertel from index Check box: Sender’s location	All letters from Thorvaldsen sent from Copenhagen (København) between 1838 and 1844

Saving the Search Results

If you wish to save your search results, you are recommended to copy and save the URL address in the browser’s navigation line and then insert it when you wish to visit these results again. If fresh material matching the search criteria has been added to the Letter Archives in the meantime, this will automatically be shown when inserting the URL.

Translation by Glyn Jones

Last updated 18.06.2011