Jens Adolf Jerichau
Early life and career. Jens Adolf Jerichau was born in Assens on the Danish island of Funen to grocer and lieutenant Carl Christian Jerichau and his wife Karen Birch. He worked in a painter's apprenticeship for one and a half years before traveling to Copenhagen where he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1831. He was accepted into the model school in 1833 and continued to the painting school, at the same time studying privately with painter Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (1783–1853) after winning both silver medals. Then in 1836 he started sculpting  with German-born sculptor Hermann Ernst Freund (1786–1840). Years in Rome. After graduating from the Academy in 1837, Jerichau traveled to Rome where he initially worked for around a year in Bertel Thorvaldsen's studio. His early works such as the sculpture "Hercules and Hebe" (1846, original model in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek) as well as his colossal Christ figure from 1849 are in a strong Neoclassical style which bear clear testament to Thorvaldsen. He established his calling through a bas-relief on a frieze in the royal palace Christiansborg in Copenhagen, depicting the marriage of Alexander the Great to  Roxane. Completed in 1864, it was later burned as were a number of his most famous works which were damaged or ruined in a fire in the Christiansborg Palace in 1884. Finding his own style. With his sculpture group "Penelope" (1845–46, Danish National Gallery), which won international acclaim, he moved away from the static Neoclassicism and towards a more dramatic and dynamic style. He created also formed depictions of nature, such as "The Panther Hunter" (1846, Danish National Gallery). Among his more notable works would be Hans Christian Ørsted Monument dedicated to physicist Hans Christian Ørsted (1777–1851). The monument was  cast in bronze on a base of granite. At the foot of the statue sit the three Norns of Norse mythology; Urðr (the past), Verðandi (the present) and Skuld (the future). Situated at Ørstedsparken in central Copenhagen, the monument was inaugurated in 1876. Family. Jerichau married the painter Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann (1819–1881) and they had 9 children. They were the parents of composer Thorald Jerichau (1848–1909) and landscape artists Harald Jerichau (1851–1878) and Holger H. Jerichau (1861–1900). Jens Adolf Jerichau died in Copenhagen and was buried at Solbjerg Park Cemetery.