Bertel ThorvaldsenDanish, 1770–1844Nessus Abducting Dejanira
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Nessus Abducting Dejanira” now? The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 548, New York. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
New York, United States
Closed· opens tomorrow at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 2004.174
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access (CC0)
In the life of Bertel Thorvaldsen
The whole life1797–1838
“Restores” the Aegina marbles for Prince Ludwig
In his Roman workshop in the Palazzo Barberini Thorvaldsen “restored” the recently discovered Aegina marbles, adding lost arms and heads. On his recommendation the fragments were bought by Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, the future King Ludwig I; the reconstructed pediment groups of the Aegina temple can now be seen in Munich’s Glyptothek.
1813
Birth of his daughter Elisa
In 1813 Anna Maria von Uhden bore Thorvaldsen a daughter, Elisa.
1819
A triumphal visit to Copenhagen
In 1819 Thorvaldsen visited his native Denmark, and the visit to Copenhagen turned into a genuine triumphal procession. He was also received with enthusiasm in Vienna, Berlin and Warsaw.
1819
Commission for statues of Christ and the Twelve Apostles
In Denmark Thorvaldsen was commissioned to make a colossal series of statues of Christ and the Twelve Apostles for the rebuilding of the Church of Our Lady, destroyed in the British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807. The statues were executed after his return to Rome and completed only in 1838.
29 March 1819
Proposes to Frances Mackenzie; the engagement is broken
On 29 March 1819 Thorvaldsen proposed to Miss Mackenzie, but a month later the engagement was cancelled: he had fallen in love with another woman, Fanny Caspers. Torn between Mackenzie and Anna Maria von Uhden, the mother of his daughter, he never succeeded in making Caspers his wife.
from 1825
President of the Academy of Saint Luke
From 1825 Thorvaldsen was president of the Academy of Saint Luke in Rome.
