Bertel Thorvaldsen's statue of the resurrected Christ, commonly referred to as Thorvaldsen's Christus, has appealed to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a three point four meter eplica is on display at Temple Square and images of the statue are used in official church media, such as the internet site LDS.org.
Thorvaldsen had attended Copenhagen's Royal Danish Academy of Art (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi), winning all the prizes including the large Gold Medal.
As a consequence, he had been granted a Royal stipend, enabling him to complete his studies in Rome, where he arrived on March 8, 1797.
Thorvaldsen's first success had been the model for a statue of Jason, highly praised by Antonio Canova, the most popular sculptor in the city.
In 1803, he received the commission to execute it in marble from Thomas Hope, a wealthy English art-patron.
From that time Thorvaldsen's success had been assured, and he did not leave Italy for sixteen years.
In 1819 he visited his native Denmark, where he had been commissioned to make the colossal series of statues of Christ and the twelve Apostles for the rebuilding of Vor Frue Kirke (from 1922 known as the Copenhagen Cathedral) between 1817 and 1829, after its having been destroyed in the British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807.
Executed after his return to Rome, they are not completed until 1838, when Thorvaldsen returns to Denmark, hailed as a hero of the arts.
