to work at all, which
was worse to him. At last he began to do as he had done in Rome, and to
receive his friends with his chisel or modelling-stick in hand. He
lived frugally, and continued many of his Roman habits of life; but he
was forced to dine out every evening.

He was now sixty-eight years old, but he did a vast amount of work in
one way and another, and was so pursued by all sorts of people who
wished to engage his attention in a variety of projects, that he
seriously considered the question of leaving Copenhagen. He became very
fond of certain families where he visited, among which was that of the
Baron von Stampe, who, with his wife and children, were soon treated by
the sculptor as if they were his own kindred. He went with them to their
summer home at Nysoe, and while there the baroness persuaded him to
model his own statue. He did this imperfectly, as he had no suitable
workshop; and when the baroness saw his difficulty in working in an
ordinary room she had a studio built for him in a garden near the
castle. She took the time to do this when Thorwaldsen was absent for
eight days, and in this short space the whole was completed, so that
when he returned it seemed to him like magic. This studio was dedicated
in July, 1839.

He then began the proper modelling of his own statue, and was
progressing very well when he received a letter from the poet
Oehlenschlaeger, who was in great haste to have a portrait bust made of
himself. Thorwaldsen felt that he ought not to make his own statue when
thus wanted for other work, and he threw down his tools, and would have
broken the model. But the baroness succeeded in getting him away, and
locked the studio, keeping the key. However, no argument or entreaty
would move the sculptor, and she could do nothing with him until she
happened to think of crying. When she began to weep and to accuse him of
having no affection for her, and reminded him of the proofs of her
devotion which she had given him, he was taken in by her mock tears, and
exclaimed, "Well, they may think what they like. My statue is not for
posterity, but I cannot refuse it to a friend to whom it will give such
pleasure." He then resumed his work, and completed his statue in
seventeen days. He represented himself standing with one arm resting
upon his statue of Hope.

After this summer Thorwaldsen divided his time between Copenhagen and
Stampeborg, and worked with the same industry in one place as in the