Christino Rasponi

myminifactory

Thorvaldsen crafted a portrait bust of a middle-aged gentleman in Rome around 1818. The original plaster model of the bust was thought to represent the English baron, Sir Francis Basset of Dunstanville, born in 1747 and passing away in 1821. According to available information, Sir Francis had commissioned a portrait bust of himself in Rome in 1818. However, by autumn of 2000, Thorvaldsens Museum unexpectedly received a letter from the Ravenna museum of fine arts, which is known as the Museo d'Arte della Cittá di Ravenna, that clearly explained and revealed that the assumed English sir was actually an Italian gentleman named Christino Rasponi.