One of Rome's Quirkier Museums

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The Angel of Life (or Eternal Life) by Hendrik Christian Andersen

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On December 19th 1940, the Norwegian-American sculptor Hendrik Christian Andersen (b. 1872) died in Rome, where he'd lived for almost half a century.

​Between 1922 and 1925, Andersen designed and built Villa Hélène (named after his beloved mother, who lived with him until her death in 1927), a grand house-cum-studio, which, on his death, he bequeathed (full of his sculptures) to the Italian nation. 

His adopted sister Lucia was given the right for life to continue residing in Villa Hélène and she decided to convert the upper floors into a boarding-house. Lucia died in 1978 and the Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen was inaugurated twenty years later on December 19th, 1999, the 59th anniversary of the sculptor's death. 

Hendrik Christian Anderson is buried in Rome's Cimitero Acattolico (Non-Catholic Cemetery), also known as the Protestant or English Cemetery. The tomb, which he designed, is also the final resting-place of his mother, his elder brother Andreas and wife Olivia, and his adopted sister Lucia.  

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Villa Hélène (Hendrik Christian Andersen Museum)

Villa Hélène

Villa Hélène

Street shrine

Sculptures, Hendrik Christian Andersen Museum

Plaster sculptures, Villa Helene

Tomb of Hendrik Christian Andersen & Family, Protestant Cemetery