Country Denmark | ||
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Sponsored by Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Date 1837; 180 years ago (1837) Former name(s) Exhibition Medal (1837)
Thorvaldsen Exhibition Medal (1866) Current Winner Per Bak Jensen, Viera Collaro | ||
The Thorvaldsen Medal (Danish: Thorvaldsens Medalje, Thorvaldsen Medaillen) is awarded annually with few exceptions to a varying number of recipients by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and is its highest distinction within the visual arts. It is named after the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.
The medal was founded in 1837 as the Exhibition Medal and awarded for talented works in the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition in the Charlottenborg Palace. In 1866, it was renamed the Thorvaldsen Exhibition Medal (Danish: Thorvaldsenske Udstillings-Medaille), and from 1923 it has been known under its current name.
Medal design
The medal is executed in silver and designed by the sculptor Christen Christensen (1806–45) in connection with Thorvaldsen's homecoming from Rome in 1838.