JasonGoldenFleece1.0041c

Bertel Thorvaldsen, 1770-1844, "Jason (with the Golden Fleece)", sculpture in numerous versions, 1803, 1828, and 1846-62; Copenhagen City Hall, Copenhagen AX303 (1846-62) is carved after Thorvaldsen's death by B.L. Bergslien under the supervision of H.W. Bissen. Thorvaldsen's own original plaster model was created in Rome and later taken to Copenhagen; Thorvaldsen reformed the original into his own marble copy A822 commissioned by Thomas Hope in 1803 but not completed until the 1830s; B.L. Bergslien and H.W. Bissen worked from Thorvaldsen's reformed a sculpture that is itself not entirely faithful to Jason A822 the 1803 original.

Thorvaldsen's 1803 sculpture is seen by E.K. Sass not only as Thorvaldsen's first masterpiece but even "the statue [that] carried neoclassicism to its culmination as a European style." — "Thorvaldsen: an introduction to his work" (2003; p. 380)

Jason stands much as Apollo Belvedere, a classical male paragon of 18th-century critics, with the Golden Fleece draped over his left forearm.

Image at right derived from the Thorvaldsenmuseum's catalog and shows Thorvaldsen's AX303(=former A51), the sculptor's posthumous work effected by his assistants.