3-011-385 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Prince and Princess of Wales at Thorwaldsen's Museum, Copenhagen, 1864. The future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra inspecting '...the works of the great Danish sculptor, Thorwaldsen... the contents of the building...are divided into two parts; the first consisting of pieces of sculpture actually chiselled by Thorwaldsen, or copies in marble or plaster of his works; the second being the collection of objects of ancient and modern art which he amassed during his lifetime. Some idea of the extent of the Museum may be gained from the fact that, irrespective of the plaster casts, it includes no less than four groups, seventeen statues, eighteen busts, sixty-one bas-reliefs, and a frieze, in marble. The total number of Thorwaldsen's works collected here is about 650...The Prince and Princess of Wales, with the Queen of Denmark and Prince John, stayed about two hours in the Museum, passing from one to another of the small rooms, about twenty altogether, each of which contains one important statue or group, with bas-reliefs and other minor works around the walls'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.