The oval shaped building features a large central portal topped by a panther-drawn quadriga with Dionysos, Greek god of the art and his consort Ariadne. On either side of the portal are statues of Goethe and Schiller, famous German writers. In niches at the sides of the building are the original statues of Shakespeare, Sophocles, Molière and Euripides; they were saved from the old Semper Opera House.The building has a prime location at the Theaterplatz, a large square near the Elbe river. At the center of this square in front of the Opera house stands an equestrian statue of the Saxon King John, added in 1889.This statue was created by Johannes Schilling, a German sculptor who was also responsible for the chariot on top of the Semper Opera House.