Skip to main content
Blog

June 30, 2017

Carl Bloch, Thorvaldsen

Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890),

Thorvaldsen (Copy After Horace Vernet), 1883, oil on canvas, 39 5/8 x 30 1/16 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Jack R. Wheatley, 2014.

French painter Horace Vernet was born on this day in 1789. Known for his historical paintings, usually depicting battles, Vernet's style was influenced by Neoclassical artists such as Jacques-Louis David. Vernet himself was born in the Louvre in Paris, as his parents were living there during the French Revolution. Today's Artwork of the Day is a portrait by Danish artist Carl Bloch, which was a copy after a portrait by Vernet. The subject of this portrait, Bertel Thorvaldsen, was a Danish sculptor, and a friend of Vernet's.