Karl Zeno Rudolf Schadow was a German sculptor and the eldest son and student of Johann Gottfried Schadow. Born and raised in Berlin, he moved to Rome in 1810 for study purposes with his brother, where he took over a studio. Unlike his brothers Friedrich Wilhelm and Johann Gottfried, he chose not to pursue painting but became a sculptor. His first independent work, a statue, was exhibited in 1812, showing the influence of Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.
Influenced by homesickness and low self-confidence, Schadow briefly returned to Berlin but travelled back to Rome in January 1812 with Christian Daniel Rauch. He declined a professorship at the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1818 and stayed in Rome, where he died at the age of 36. His work showed a more romantic than classical approach to sculpture, with a sentimental undertone.