[2] The statue portrays the king in classic attire, crowned with laurels and with his hand outstretched, holding a baton.

[3] Commissioned by the Danish East India Company, it was designed in Neoclassical style by Jacques Saly in 1768 and was cast in bronze in 1771.

[6] In 1752 Saly was commissioned to create a sculpture of Frederick V on horseback, to be placed in the center of the courtyard of Amalienborg Palace.

The equestrian statue was commissioned by Adam Gottlob Moltke, head of the Asiatic Company, as a gift to the king.

Sculptor Edmé Bouchardon rejected the offer, but suggested Saly, who wanted a significant sum for the model and free housing in Copenhagen.

[10] The Danish Asiatic Company cast two medallions, one by Johan Henrik Wolff[11] and the other by Daniel Jensen Adzer.

[13] In the 21st century, the Danish Culture Canon's committee for the visual arts pointed out that the statue, which took 14 years to complete, cost more than Amalienborg's four palatial buildings which surround it.

[14] The painting Amalienborg Square, Copenhagen by Vilhelm Hammershøi places the statue in a central, monumental role.