Court Painters: Jens Juel

Today we are heading back into the world of art history with another Court Painters post. We are heading a tad further afield today- Scandinavia! Many of the court painters that we are more familiar with are British artists or artists who have worked for the English and then British Royal Family. However, there are countless incredible artists outside of the UK that captured royal likenesses that deserve our attention. So today we are looking to Denmark and exploring the life of an artist who served multiple generations of the Danish Royal Family. Let’s get into September’s Court Painters: Jens Juel!

Jens Juel’s Early Years

Jens Juel was born to Vilhelmine Elisabeth Juel and Jørgen Jørgensen on 12 May 1745 and spent much of his childhood in Gamborg. Although his father was a teacher, Juel showed an interest and aptitude in painting and was sent to Hamburg to apprentice under the German artist Johann Michael Gehrmann.

After five years of training under Gehrmann and developing his skills in both portraits and landscapes, Juel returned back to Denmark in 1765 to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts.

Jens Juel portrait of Marie of Hesse Kassel — By Jens Juel – Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen, 28.11.2011, lot 238, Public Domain, Link

Royal Danish Academy of Arts

Juel was almost immediately successful at the Academy. It was founded in 1754 as a gift to King Frederik V and was originally known as the Royal Danish Academy of Portraiture, Sculpture, and Architecture. He won his first gold medal in 1767 and a second in 1771, with both paintings portraying Biblical themes. Juel worked throughout this time and continued to build his growing client list.

Jens Juel protrait of Caroline Mathilde — By Jens Juel – https://www.kongernessamling.dk/rosenborg/person/dronning-caroline-mathilde/, Public Domain, Link

Moving Around the Continent

Juel left Denmark in 1772, first heading to Rome where he lived for four years with several other Danish artists. After that, he spent time in Paris- he was further able to develop his skills as a portraitist there. Finally, he then moved to Geneva where he lived for a few years. This period was invaluable to his work as an artist, as he was exposed to countless artists, philosophers, scientists, and academics who would go on to influence him. As the Royal Danish Collection explains,

Juel brought home with him the latest artistic currents of the age and transformed them on Danish soil… Juel was able to depict his subjects closer to nature. This was particularly expressed in his depictions of children; in step with the ideals of the time, and the social thinker Jean Jacques Rousseau’s ideas about freer possibilities for self-expression, they were depicted with a previously unseen naturalness.

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Jens Juel portrait of Frederik VI of Denmark — Jens Juel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A Return to Denmark

In 1780, Juel returned to Copenhagen after eight years on the Continent and was shortly thereafter appointed as King Christian VII’s official court portrait painter. Juel was known particularly for his flattering and technically detailed portraits; he understood what positions, lighting, and techniques would produce the most favourable portraits. Because he had built up a strong reputation while travelling, the Danish aristocracy lined up to have their portraits painted- including the Danish Royal Family.

Juel painted several members of the family- you can see surviving portraits of King Christian VII, , Queen Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (if her name sounds familiar, the 2012 film A Royal Affair covered her notable affair with doctor Johann Friedrich Struensee), Queen Marie of Hesse-Kassel, and Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark. Several of these portraits are in the Royal Danish Collection now.

Juel’s work for the Academy was not finished. He was made a professor at the Royal Academy in 1786, and was named the Director in 1796 and again in 1799. He remained director until his death in 1802.