Christine Stampe paid a visit to Thorvaldsen at Charlottenborg in April 1839, and a close friendship soon developed between the two. She had helped collect funds for the museum and now became Thorvaldsen’s personal support. She also encouraged him to work, saving him from the excessive social life into which he was drawn in the capital by inviting him to her home, the mansion of Nysø near Præstø. Finally she and her husband and children accompanied him on the only visit to Italy he made after his return to Denmark.
