He trained as a sculptor under Antoine Tassaert, who was patronized by Frederick the Great. Taessert offered his daughter in marriage. but the pupil preferred to elope with a Jewish girl, Marianne Devidel in Rome and Taessert not only condoned the offense but furnished money for their stay in Italy. After he married Devidel in Rome he also won the sculptors prize from the Accademia di San Luca in 1786.. Having been influenced by the sculptor Antonio Canova during his stay in Rome he returned to Berlin in 1788 to succeed Tassaert as sculptor to the court and secretary to the Prussian Academy of Arts. Upon his return, his first work was the tomb of the son of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II, Alexander von der Mark. Over half a century he produced upwards of two hundred works, varied in style as in subjects.