Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764-1850) was the most important German sculptor of the Napoleonic era. Trained in the Royal workshop and he became in 1788 the court sculptor workshop and "Director of all sculptures". To the classical Ideal increasingly joined Schadow in realistic, national and individual traits. His style was classically perfect and lifelike for the 19th century.

His art combines a natural sensuality dilating from the Rococo and grace with a great realism. His double statue of Princesses Louise and Friederike von Preussen in marble, is the first life-size double statue of classicism and set standards for the Memorial sculpture of the 19th century. He created the famous Quadriga atop the Brandenburg Gate in copper seamless because the bronze casting technology for large objects could not still find application. In the restoration period, Schadow found realistic classicism of fewer clients and was ousted in 1820 by the official and representative emphasized art of his disciple Caspar Daniel Rauch.

Until his death, Schadow worked as Director of the Berlin Academy and practiced from great influence through his writings.

An art work that is cut in from a stone or wooden surface, not modeled in the round.

According to the degree of projection one can distinguish between low-relief or bas-relief and high relief. The sunk relief is a common form of reliefs in Ancient Egypt, where the depicted scenes were cut into the stone or wood surface.

Among the most famous reliefs are the works of the Florentine master Lorenzo Ghiberti. He created, among others, the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery, called by Michelangelo the "Gates of Paradise".