Ørsted is depicted as an ancient wise man, sitting on a klismos and wearing a toga.

He is shown in a moment of quiet contemplation, resting his left arm on the back of the chair and his chin against his hand.

[1] The statue was originally commissioned from Herman Wilhelm Bissen at the initiative of the art historian Niels Laurits Høyen.

The plan was to raise 6,000 Danish rigsdaler for a marble statue but Ørsted's strong political views resulted in dwindling popularity.

Orla Lehmann wrote to Høyen that Ørsted wasn't a statesman but "the servant of a Fürst".