  Context: Supernova (SN) 2023ixf is among the most nearby Type II SNe in the
last decades. As such, there is a wealth of observational data of both the
event itself and of the associated object identified in pre-explosion images.
This allows to perform a variety of studies that aim at determining the SN
properties and the nature of the putative progenitor star. Modelling of the
light curve is a powerful method to derive physical properties independently of
direct progenitor analyses. Aims: To investigate the physical nature of SN
2023ixf based on hydrodynamical modelling of its bolometric light curve and
expansion velocities during the complete photospheric phase. Methods: A grid of
one dimensional explosions was calculated for evolved stars of different
masses. We derived properties of SN 2023ixf and its progenitor by comparing our
models with the observations. Results: The observations are well reproduced by
the explosion of a star with zero age main sequence mass of f $M_\mathrm{ZAMS}
= 12 M_\odot$ , an explosion energy of $1.2 \times 10^{51}$ erg, and a nickel
production of 0.05M . This indicates that SN 2023ixf was a normal event. Our
modelling suggests a limit of $M_\mathrm{ZAMS} < 15 M_\odot$ and therefore
favours the low mass range among the results from pre-explosion observations.
