Thorvaldsen drew this profile of a man no fewer than three times. The figure in question is the Russian painter Feodor Ivanovich, who was one of Thorvaldsen’s circle of friends and who is represented in Thorvaldsen’s collection of contemporary art. In one of his sketchbooks from the early years in Rome, Thorvaldsen also drew a portrait of his colleague and friend in which he makes him look almost exotic. Not without a certain sense of humour, the head and neck of a horse are drawn on the same sheet.
