The unveiling of Thorvaldsen’s monument (inv. no. A114 to A116) to Johann Gutenberg (1394/1400-1468) was celebrated in Mainz on the 14th, 15th and 16th of August 1837, as is confirmed by this poster. This, however, was a year later than planned. The year 1836 was the four hundredth anniversary of Gutenberg’s experimenting with loose types of wood that could freely be put together on a page and then printed. And in Mainz, the plan had originally been that the monument should be dedicated during the four hundredth anniversary – as part of the Gutenberg celebrations. The commission responsible for erecting the monument had approached Thorvaldsen as early as 1832. Nevertheless, the unveiling was delayed. The original plaster model had to be sent from Rome via Marseilles to Paris there to be cast in bronze by Charles Crozatier (1795-1855). However, when the original model arrived in Paris, it had been damaged. And so it was impossible to keep to the programme. Thorvaldsen saw the monument in Mainz for the first time on his journey from Copenhagen to Rome in 1841.
INAGURATIONS FEIER / des MONUMENTES / für / Johann Gutenberg, / IN MAINZ / am 14., 15. und 16. August 1837 [....] EIN BLATT DER ERINNERUNG, / ALLEN / Beförderen der Denkmals und Fest-Theilnehmern / gewidmet / von der Mainzer Buchdurcherei-Inhabern: / Florian Kupferberg, Heinrich Prickarts, Theodor von Babern
