Herman Wilhelm Bissen (13 October 1798 – 10 March 1868) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

sculptor.

Biography

Bissen was born at Schleswig in the

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ( ...

. He was the son of Christian Gottlieb Wilhelm Bissen (1766-1847), a farmer, and Anna Margrethe Dorothea Elfendal (1763-1848). He was educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

from 1816 to 1823. In 1824, he was awarded a travel scholarship which enabled him to travel to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The stay in Rome extended over 10 years during which time he became an assistant to Danish sculptor

Bertel Thorvaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish and Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in ...

. Under the influence of Thorvaldsen, his style changed from

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

to neo-classicism. In early 1834, Bissen left Rome to return to Copenhagen where he was awarded a professorship at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts following the death of his predecessor, Hermann Ernst Freund. From 1850 to 1853, he was director of the academy. Several of his works were exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 including his statue of Orestes. Bissen, who worked in plaster, marble and bronze, performed significant public order work. The

National Gallery of Denmark The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen. The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and han ...

owns a selection of over one hundred busts and a collection of two hundred works in total. Among his notable works are the monumental ''Landsoldaten'' (1858) in Fredericia, the statue of

Adam Oehlenschläger Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (14 November 177920 January 1850) was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song ''Der er et yndigt land'', which is one of the national anthems ...

(1854-61) in front of the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, and the equestrian statue of King

Frederik VII of Denmark Frederick VII (Frederik Carl Christian; 6 October 1808 – 15 November 1863) was King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg and the last king of Denmark to rule as an ...

in front of

Christiansborg Castle Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

. His monument from 1862, ''

Isted Lion The Isted Lion (or ''Flensburg Lion'') ( da, Istedløven or ''Flensborgløven''), german: Flensburger Löwe or ) is a Danish war monument originally intended as a monument of the Danish victory over German-minded Schleswig-Holstein insurgents in th ...

'' (''Istedløven''), was erected in recognition of Danish victory during the

Battle of Isted The Battle of Isted ( da, Slaget på Isted Hede; german: Die Schlacht bei Idstedt) took place on 25 July 1850 near the village of Idstedt (Danish: ''Isted''), in what is today Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The battle was part of the First Schlesw ...

which was fought as part of the First Schleswig War. The statue was originally erected at

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

in Schleswig. In 1867, it was moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and remained there until 1945. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was located to

Søren Kierkegaards Plads Søren Kierkegaards Plads is a harbourside public square on Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark, named after Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. It occupies a strip of waterfront between the Black Diamond (library), Black Diamond, whose ...

. In September 2011 it returned to Flensburg.

Personal life

Bissen was married twice. In 1836, he married Emilie Hedvig Møller. She died in 1850 and two years later, he married Marie Cathrine Sonne. He was the father of sculptor

Vilhelm Bissen Christian Gottlieb Vilhelm Bissen (5 August 1836 – 20 April 1913) was a Danish sculptor. He was also a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts with great influence on the next generation of Danish sculptors and for a while serv ...

and landscape painter . Bissen died of pneumonia in 1868. His funeral took place at the Vor Frue Kirke in Copenhagen, followed by burial at

Assistens Cemetery Assistens Cemetery ( da, Assistens Kirkegård) is the name of a number of cemeteries in Denmark. The common nominator is, as the first part of the name implies (Latin: ''assistens'' meaning assisting), an assisting cemetery for a town's churches. ...

Gallery

File:Vulcan (Bissen).jpg, ''

Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...

'' (1838) File:The Wrathful Achilles (1864-66).jpg, ''The Wrathful

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...

'' (1864-66) File:The Wounded Philoctetes (1854-55).jpg, '' The Wounded

Philoctetes Philoctetes ( grc, Φιλοκτήτης ''Philoktētēs''; English pronunciation: , stress (linguistics), stressed on the third syllable, ''-tet-''), or Philocthetes, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Poeas, king of Meliboea (Magnes ...

'' (1854-1855) File:Orestes (1848).jpg, '' Orestes Fleeing from the

Furies The Erinyes ( ; sing. Erinys ; grc, Ἐρινύες, pl. of ), also known as the Furies, and the Eumenides, were female chthonic deities of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad The ''Il ...

'' (1848) File:Hylas by H.W. Bissen, 1846 - Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek - Copenhagen - DSC09524.JPG, '' Hylas'' (1846) File:Girl Setting her Hair by H.W. Bissen, 1842 - Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek - Copenhagen - DSC09532.JPG, ''Girl Setting her Hair'' (1842)

References

External links

Photo gallery of works by of Bissen

1798 births 1868 deaths People from Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein People from the Duchy of Schleswig Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Directors of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Bertel Thorvaldsen 19th-century Danish people 19th-century Danish sculptors 19th-century male artists {{Denmark-sculptor-stub