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The Dancing Glade at Sorgenfri by Jens Juel

Jens Juel · 1800-01-01

The Dancing Glade at Sorgenfri, painted by Jens Juel in 1800, looks at first like a simple forest picnic. But this is the leading Danish portraitist of his age doing something he rarely did, painting an outdoor paradise instead of a wealthy sitter. The scene holds a secret most people scroll past.

Look at the glowing break in the trees at the center background. Now look closer. Tiny silhouetted figures are moving through that light. The party does not end with the foreground dancers; it continues deep into the park, figures fading into the golden haze. Juel has painted a pleasure-ground that seems to go on forever.

Juel was 55 when he made this, near the end of his life. Best known for the hundreds of portraits now hanging at Frederiksborg Castle, he here turned his exacting eye on sunlight itself. The warm ochre ground under the dancers, the white bonnets catching filtered light, the dark tree trunks framing the scene like a stage, all of it serves a vision of leisure as something almost sacred.

The painting lives at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. Next time you see a crowded outdoor scene, look into the distance. The painter may have hidden a whole second party back there, waiting for someone to notice.

Details

Women in white dresses dance on the soft ground.
Women in white dresses dance on the soft ground.
The painter, Jens Juel, was 55 and famous for portraits.
The painter, Jens Juel, was 55 and famous for portraits.
This was his escape, a scene of pure leisure.
This was his escape, a scene of pure leisure.
Walk your eye past the dark trees, into the light.
Walk your eye past the dark trees, into the light.
Tiny figures are moving in the distant sun.
Tiny figures are moving in the distant sun.
Transcript

A sunny afternoon in a Danish forest. Women in white dresses dance on the soft ground. The painter, Jens Juel, was 55 and famous for portraits. This was his escape, a scene of pure leisure. But this party is bigger than it first appears. Walk your eye past the dark trees, into the light. Tiny figures are moving in the distant sun. The dance continues far into the park, fading like a dream.