Artwork
Portrait of Henriette Petersen, née Philipsen, Mrs Michael Christian Petersen
Portrait of Henriette Petersen, née Philipsen, Mrs Michael Christian Petersen is an oil painting by the German Romanticist artist Christen Købke. It dates from 1832 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The inclusion of these details functions iconographically to affirm the respectability and domestic virtue expected of women in early-19th-century Copenhagen.
The painting portrays Henriette Petersen, née Philipsen, the wife of Michael Christian Petersen, as a young woman of the Danish bourgeoisie. She is shown wearing a necklace, a modest dress, a belt buckle and headgear, elements that signal both her marital status and her middle-class standing. The inclusion of these details functions iconographically to affirm the respectability and domestic virtue expected of women in early-19th-century Copenhagen.
By rendering her in fine attire against a simple backdrop, Købke emphasizes social identity rather than personal character, making the work a visual record of contemporary gender and class expectations.
Technique & Style
The portrait is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for Christen Købke's portrait practice of the early 1830s. The sitter is rendered with attention to specific costume details, including a necklace, a dress, a belt buckle, and headgear, suggesting a careful, descriptive handling of fabric and ornament typical of Købke's intimate portrait style. The composition is an upright format suited to a half- or three-quarter-length portrait.
The work is classified as a painting within the portrait genre and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst. No further condition notes or stylistic commentary are documented in the available sources.
History & Provenance
Portrait of Henriette Petersen, née Philipsen is an oil on canvas portrait executed in 1832 by the Danish Golden Age painter Christen Købke. It depicts the sitter wearing a necklace, dress, belt buckle and headgear. The work entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, where it is recorded with the accession number KMS3553. No earlier ownership records are documented, indicating a continuous chain from the artist's studio to the museum.
Overview
Christen Købke, a notable artist of the Danish Golden Age, painted this oil portrait in 1832. Titled "Portrait of Henriette Petersen, n
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ext to learn more about the artist's life, see the biography of Christen Købke.
Artist & collection
Artist
Christen Schiellerup Købke (26 May 1810 – 7 February 1848) was a Danish painter, and one of the best-known artists from the Golden Age of Danish Painting.
Valdemar Hjartvar Købke (1813–1893), the Artist's Brother
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