Hvem var Olaf Malm? Er det levende modeller bak denne figuren i romanen Fra Piazza del Popolo av Vilhelm Bergsøe?

Based on the Nordic sculptor community in Rome around 1860, the article discusses candidatesthat served as inspiration for the fictional Olaf Malm from Telemark, the protagonist in thechapter “Malms historie” in Vilhelm Bergsøe’s key novel Fra Piazza del Popolo (1866). Some ofthe clues in the text are Malm’s sculptural works. A study of different sources and earlier researchtogether with the candidates’ personality, biography, and travel patterns point in a new directionand strengthen the probability of the Norwegian sculptor Hans Johnsen Budal as being the mainmodel, whereas some traits hint at the Danish sculptor Herman W. Bissen. The candidacy ofthe sculptor Olaf Glosimodt, which is established in Norway, however, is no longer credible.