The fact that antiquity was regarded as exemplary and inspiring around 1800 had various reasons. One reason was the lively scientific excavations that developed rapidly in the course of the 18th century and provided so much material. A central figure in the re-evaluation of antiquity in the German-speaking world was Johann Joachim Winckelmann. His work " Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and the Art of Sculpture“, published in Dresden in 1755, dealt, among other topics, with "Masterpieces of Greek Art" to demonstrate his concept of ideal beauty, which was to become formative for Neo-classicism. His notes became a work that shaped the epoch and inspired the imitation of Greek antique works and forms in painting, sculpture and the applied arts in Germany and beyond its borders.
After Winckelmann's death, several portrait busts were made in bronze and marble in his honour, as he was considered one of the intellectual founders of Neo-classicism. These busts in turn served as models for plaster casts that could be reproduced easily and cheaply. This met the demand for busts of high-ranking and deserving personalities, which were increasingly installed in public spaces