Thorvaldsens Museum

Right next to the northwestern side of Christiansborg Palace lies the often overlooked, non-touristy gem of Thorvaldsens Museum.  Thorvaldsens Museum opened on 18 September 1848 and was the first public museum building in Denmark. The characteristic museum building was built to exhibit the extensive life’s work of the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) and today still looks more or less as it did when it opened over 150 years ago.

In addition to being a sculptor, Thorvaldsen was a passionate collector. The museum also exhibits his extensive collections of paintings from his own time and collections of artworks and objects from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquity. The museum also shows changing exhibitions that run throughout the year. There’s always something new to experience at Thorvaldsens Museum.

Thorvaldsens Museum is one of the country’s most beautiful buildings. Visiting the museum on Slotsholmen is like stepping into another world. A walk through the museum offers a sensuous color orgy of brightly colored walls, richly decorated ceilings and mosaic floors, all of which have Bertel Thorvaldsen’s marble and plaster sculptures as the natural centre.

On the roof of the museum, the Goddess of Victory, Victoria, triumphs with her bucket and expresses the fame that Thorvaldsen achieved. The sculpture group was modeled by Thorvaldsen’s student HW Bissen after a sketch by Thorvaldsen and donated by King Christian VIII. Victoria was in the Roman Empire the personification of victory. She became an image of Rome itself, and was often used on Roman coins. She is seen in numerous depictions riding her triumphal chariot, such as a quadriga also called a four bucket. Among other things, she can also be seen on top of the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. More