item details
Jens Juel; artist
Overview
Johan Frederik Clemens (1749-1831) was the most eminent Danish printmaker of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He studied in Copenhagen and Paris, and spent stints in Berlin and London. He became professor of copperplate engraving at the Academy in 1813. Towards the end of his life he turned increasingly to lithography. His artistic friends included the painters Jens Juel (1745-1802) and Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard and he based numerous engravings on their works. This portrait derives from one such by Juel, and depicts Johann Justus (or Johan Just) von Berger (1723-91), physician to the Court of Denmark and creator of the first Danish pharmacopeia (1772). The Latin inscription attests to von Berger's eminence, as does the Latinisation of his name and faux frame. The original painting dates from 1781, when von Berger was in his late fifties.
See:
Wikipedia, 'Johan Fredrik Clemens', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Frederik_Clemens
'Johan Just von Berger', https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Just_von_Berger
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art March 2019
See:
Wikipedia,