CIRCA 1830, WORKSHOP OF BERTEL THORVALDSEN

Thorvaldsen's original marble bust of Napoleon was commissioned by the Scottish collector Alexander Murray in 1829 during a visit to Rome. Thorvaldsen based his design on print sources and the funerary mask executed by Napoleon's personal doctor after his death in 1821. The bust remained at Cully House in Kircudbrightshire until 1846 when it was purchased by Alexander, Duke of Hamilton and moved to Hamilton Palace. The bust was replicated at least five times. Following the death of Thorvaldsen, one of these examples was found unfinished in his atelier and was completed under the supervision of H. W. Bissen for the Museum Thorvaldsen (see Bertel Thorvaldsen 1170-1844 scultore danese a Roma, Rome, 1989, p. 200, fig. 65).