Education
Bissen first studied painting in Copenhagen, then became a pupil of the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.
Bissen first studied painting in Copenhagen, then became a pupil of the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.
In 1824, he travelled to Rome and met Christian Daniel Rauch in Berlin. Back in Denmark, Bissen became professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen in 1834, changing in style to realism. Among his works are the monumental Landsoldaten (1858) in Fredericia and the Isted Lion (1862) (originally in Flensburg, over Berlin and Copenhagen and back to Flensburg) and many smaller pieces.
Under the influence of Thorvaldsen, his style changed from romanticism to neo-classicism.