David Jensen

David Ivanovich Jensen (Russian: Давид Иванович Йенсен, 19 November 1816, Copenhagen - 23 January 1902, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian decorative sculptor and art professor. Biography His father, Jens Holmgren, was a carpenter. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, under the direction of Bertel Thorvaldsen. In 1841, the Academy awarded him a large gold medal for his bas-relief of Christ in the house of Martha and Mary. That same year, he was one of many who received a commission to do sculptural work at the new palace of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (now known as the Marinsky Palace). His contribution consisted mainly of bas-reliefs and caryatids. In 1845, for his bas-relief of Chiron teaching Achilles to use a bow, he was granted the title of "Free Artist" by the Imperial Academy of Arts. From 1843 to 1847, he also taught drawing at the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. His students included Alexander Opekushin and Léopold Bernhard Bernstamm. In 1847, together with , he created the "Заведение для наружных украшений зданий" (Establishment for the Exterior Decorations of Buildings), the first such workshop in Russia to produce sculptural decorations from terracotta.