Thorvaldsen from Skagafjörður

The sculptor and artist Bertel Thorvaldsen stands tall in Hljómskálagarður. The greatest artist of the Nordic countries is written on the statue’s plinth. He was born in the then capital of Iceland, Copenhagen, in 1770, the son of Gottskálk Þorvaldsson, a master woodcarver, from Reynisstaður in Skagafjörður, and Kerana Dagnes, a folk girl from Jylland. He lived most of his life in Rome (1797-1838), where in his studio, he created neo-classical sculptural works that were rare at the time. His major works include, among others, a statue of Pope Pius VII in the Vatican, the only piece there that is not by a Catholic artist. He also made the statue of the Bavarian leader of the 30 years war in Germany, Maximilian I in Munich, and Copernicus in Warsaw. Bertel Thorvaldsen rests next to the Thorvaldsen Museum, next to the Danish government building Christiansborg Palace. He is and was one of the greatest artists in the Nordic countries.