Pl.4 Antique Portrait of Bertel Thorvaldsen by Gaimard (1842)

Description: Antique print titled 'Plate 4 - Bertel Albert Thorvaldsen'. This plate shows a portrait of Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770 - 1844) was a Danish sculptor of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a Danish/Icelandic family of humble means, and was accepted to the Royal Danish Academy of Art when he was eleven years old. Working part-time with his father, who was a wood carver, Thorvaldsen won many honors and medals at the academy. From: 'Voyage en Islande et au Groenland' by M. Paul Gaimard, published in Paris 1842.

Artists and Engravers: Made by 'Emile Lasalle' after 'C.A. Jensen'. Paul Gaimard (1793-1858) served on board the Uranie under Freycinet during his circumnavigation of the world, and was partly responsible for the zoological studies published as a result of that voyage. He later served under Dumont d'Urville on board the Astrolabe during the La Perouse search expedition in 1826-1829. Gaimard's voyage to Iceland embarked in 1835 in search of the expedition of Jean de Blosseville from whom nothing had been heard since 1833. No trace was found, but the present work is the result of Gaimard's extensive travels through Iceland, and contains many fine views.