For examination, please contact the staff in Lyngby.

Exhibited: The Nivaagaard Collection, “Venskabsportrætter fra Rom”, 2016, Cat. No. 2, mentioned p. 19, ill. p. 19. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, “Lasting Impressions: Etchings and Drawings by Carl Bloch”, 2018.

Provenance: Circolo Scandinavo / Skandinavisk Forening i Rom (Inv. No. A 2).

The Norwegian journalist and author Samuel Frederik Bætzmann stayed in Italy from 1860 to 1863, where he, alongside studies in history and aesthetic philosophy, wrote articles for Illustreret Nyhedsblad. He worked as a librarian and secretary in Skandinavisk Forening and mingled among the great literary figures of his time, including Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910). Bætzmann maintained his connection to Italy throughout his life and, after the death of his wife, was encouraged by his childhood friend Bjørnson to return to the Eternal City. In a letter from Rome, Bjørnson writes: “Dear Bætz. Now you must come down here. Now you must return to the beginning!...”. Bætzmann resided in Rome from 1908 until his death in 1913.