Asmus Jacob Carstens

This bronze statue depicts Asmus Jacob Carstens (1754–1798), the German-Danish painter considered a forerunner of Neoclassicism in German art. Created by sculptor Theobald Stein between 1878 and 1879, the work reflects the late 19th-century practice of commemorating artists in public sculpture. Carstens himself was a singular figure — he famously resigned a Prussian professorship to work independently in Rome, rejecting state patronage on principle. The statue is a modest piece of Gründerzeit memorial culture.