Tímarit Þjóðræknisfélags Íslendinga - 01.01.1963, Page 116

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TÍMARIT ÞJÓÐRÆKNISFÉLAGS ÍSLENDINGA
the achievements of his studio were
prodigious.
* * *
At the time of his triumphant
visit to Denmark in 1819, he was
literally swamped with commis-
sions. On this occasion he went
across country and stopped at most
of the important cities in Europe.
He was greeted like a king and the
nobility vied among themselves to
do him honor. When he arrived in
Warsaw he was greeted by Alexand-
er, Emperor of Russia, who embrac-
ed him and decorated him with
Russia’s highest honor. Everywhere
he went, the rich and the rulers of
all lands lionized him and loaded
him with commissions to do statues
and monuments of their heroes and
famous men. All these commissions
were eventually fulfilled, although
it took years to accomplish this, in
spite of the fact that Thorvaldsen
had at this time most of the ablest
artists in his studio. As before, he
took the greatest personal care of
the work, doing himself all the
drawings, models, and put the last
touches to the work. One of the
famous works from this time is his
statue of the astronomer, Copernicus
in Cracow, Poland.
His superb creations, “Night” and
“Morning” so full of tenderness and
spirit, were each done practically at
one sitting in a passion of creative
energy. Many great artists, especial-
ly in the field of literature, are re-
membered mainly for one supreme
masterpiece: William Cullen Bryant,
Gabriel Rossetti, Thoreau; and
Edgar Allan Poe for his “Raven”.
Even those who would disparage
the work of Bertel Thorvaldsen as
mere imitation, feel called upon to
pay tribute to his masterpiece: “The
Lion of Lucerne”. This is a colossal
high relief carved into a mountain-
side in Lucerne, Switzerland to
commemorate the massacre of the
Swiss guard of King Louis XVI,
when the mob stormed the Louvre
in the French Revolution. All great
art is born of feeling and in this
work of Thorvaldsen the feeling is
overwhelming; here he has captured
and held in solid stone all the
courage, loyalty, sorrow and travail
of humanity, depicted in the face
and stance of the lion! He made the
model which was then sent to
Lucerne where the memorial was
carved in the immense rock wall.
As a visitor to Lucerne you can buy
every kind of reproduction of the
Lion of Lucerne, in wood, plaster,
bronze, even in butter! But they
are lifeless images, while the memo-
rial itself is a living thing of
strength and grandeur, almost as if
it had been done there by God
himself in this eloquent setting,
with the overhanging vines and
melancholy boughs forming a
subdued shade and the falling water
like muted organ music. This is
something beyond technical skill;
this is born out of travail and truth;
the lion, wounded, dying, has fallen
across the great French shield, with
a look of unutterable woe and com-
passion engraved on his face. In his
body is depicted the strength, the
courage, the loyalty to endure unto
the end, to die for a cause! A
century of dust had gathered over
this heroic band of brave men, but
here we can envisage them, —