Johann Gottfried Schadow - Master of Sculpture
He influenced classicism like no other, and his visionary works were a model and inspiration for entire generations of artists. Schadow was born in Berlin on May 20th, 1764. As the son of a tailor, he established a career at the king's court, where he was in charge of the sculpture workshop and director of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
However, some of his works experienced a rather tough destiny: for example, his most famous work, the Quadriga on the Brandenburg Gate, was kidnapped by Napoleon in 1806. Frederick William III forbade the display of the "Princess Group", a double portrait of the princesses Luise and Friederike, claiming that it was "too much Venus and too little Madonna". The statue of Frederick the Great, which disappeared after the Second World War and was said to have been broken during transport, seemed to have been the worst affected. However, things ended well for all of the three works: The four-in-hand was brought back to Berlin in 1814, the group of princesses was put on public display again 90 years after its banishment, and the Old Fritz was recently rediscovered and restored in Stettin.
You can find works by Johann Gottfried Schadow at ars mundi here...
