He belonged to the generation immediately after Bertel Thorvaldsen, for whom he worked briefly in Rome, but gradually moved away from the static Neoclassicism he inherited from him and towards a more dynamic and realistic style.

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.

[4] 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.

At the foot of the statue sit the three Norns of Norse mythology; Urðr (the past), Verðandi (the present) and Skuld (the future).