Jens Juel has painted a young woman wearing an eye-catching outfit: an orientalising costume in a so-called Circassian style, also known as
à la circassienne. The ensemble – a long-sleeved golden gown lined with pale pink fabric, a belt with oval buckles, and a short-sleeved blue velvet robe edged with ermine – was certainly not one you would see worn by just anyone at this time, in the mid-1780s.
[1]Indeed, the woman in Juel’s portrait is not just any woman. She is Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark (1771–1843), then approximately fifteen years of age. She was officially the daughter of Christian VII and Caroline Mathilde, but presumably her biological father was the royal physician to Christian VII, J.F. Struensee (1737–1772). Her brother was Frederik VI (
B 348). Juel’s portrait was created around the year Louise Augusta married the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderborg-Augustenborg, Frederik Christian II (1765–1814), after which she became the ‘Duchess of Augustenborg’.
Due to her status and position – and allegedly also her beauty – Princess Louise Augusta was a leading figure at the Danish court at a time when masked balls were popular as a form of socialising. Here, clothes and costumes of ‘foreign appearance’ were very much in vogue, and today the princess’s dress is seen as clear evidence of the widespread eighteenth-century fascination with the exotic.
[2] Louise Augusta’s oriental attire and the white mask she holds in her right hand should also be seen as markers of her social position in this carefully staged portrait, where the large-patterned tablecloth, the low sofa with the red velvet cushion with gold tassels as well as the red drapery and the black marbled column in the background all help to set the scene.
Juel painted several versions of this portrait of Louise Augusta.
[3] He also portrayed her on other occasions, for example, he did a full-length portrait of her – the first royal portrait to depict its sitter out in the open air.
[4]Lent to the exhibitionJens Juel – Under the skin
Kunstmuseum Brandts, Odense, DanmarkFebruary 8 - August 24, 2025
Fuglsang Kunstmuseum, Toreby L., DenmarkSeptember 11, 2025 – January 18, 2026
Ribe Kunstmuseum, Ribe, DenmarkFebruary 7 - May 28, 2026