Dreyer expresses his intention with the film in a letter to Ib Koch-Olsen of 12 Nov. 1948: "The purpose of the Thorvaldsen films is not to provide an extensive disquisition on Thorvaldsen’s art but, precisely be using his most popular and easiest accessible works, to make the layman see and understand the singularity of Thorvaldsen’s art in general. (…) …a film whose real purpose was to convince people who stand indifferent before Thorvaldsen’s art that it is actually easy to understand."