The business of collecting: Ottilia and Carl Jacobsen in Rome 1884

This paper explores Carl and Ottilia Jacobsen’s 1884 journey to Rome, positioning this expedition in the intersection of gendered sociability, diplomatic networks, and cultural patronage in late nineteenth-century Europe. The historiography often identifies the death of J.C. Jacobsen in 1887, and Carl Jacobsen’s connection with the German archaeologist Helbig from that same year, as catalysts for the expansion of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. This case study, however, suggests that Ottilia and Carl Jacobsen began the process of acquiring Roman objects for their collection during a private journey a few years earlier.

Drawing upon Ottilia Jacobsen’s travel diaries and correspondence from the Danish consulate in Rome, the study highlights how the Jacobsens navigated the shifting landscape of post-Risorgimento Italy to enter the arena of collecting. Being new actors in the elite milieu of the Roman capital, the Danish collector couple had to navigate the social networks of tourists and artists, diplomats, collectors, and Italian nobility to gain access to private collections such as those of Prince Lancellotti or Prince Sciarra. Securing new objects was not merely a matter of financial capital but also one of social navigation.