Exhibited: The Nivaagaard Collection, “Venskabsportrætter fra Rom”, 2016, Cat. No. 38, mentioned p. 58, ill. p. 58.

Provenance: Circolo Scandinavo / Skandinavisk Forening i Rom (Inv. No. AI 3).

After completing an apprenticeship in Haderslev, Peter Petersen moved to Copenhagen, where he became a student at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1840. After just one year - in 1841 - Petersen distinguished himself by winning the small silver medal in modeling. Upon the recommendation of his teacher, the sculptor Herman Wilhelm Bissen (1798–1868), Petersen applied for a travel scholarship. Initially overlooked by the Academy, he was fortunate to receive a two-year scholarship from Den Reiersenske Fond and set off for Rome the same year.

In Rome, he apprenticed with Italian cameo cutters while also receiving guidance from H. W. Bissen and Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844), who were also in Rome at the time. Peter Petersen is known for his carvings in ivory and shells based on motifs from Thorvaldsen's works, and it was upon Thorvaldsen's recommendation that Petersen received the Academy's scholarship, extending his stay until 1846. Afterward, he returned to Copenhagen briefly, but in 1847, he traveled back to Rome to complete his work there. The portrait depicted here, drawn by Anders Lunde, is from Petersen's second trip to Rome, showing him with a steady gaze directed at the viewer.