Jens Juel (1745–1802)
Helena Charlotte Lassen, née Nordtmann, wife of counter admiral Lorentz Fjelderup Lassen, 1801–1802
Oil on canvas

68.5 x 54 cm

Inventory number B 350

Jens Juel has created an oval half-length portrait of Helena Charlotte Lassen (c. 1767–1841), depicting her clad in a white dress with a sash around her waist. Over the dress she wears a blue shawl with gold details. At the time Juel painted her portrait, she was in her early thirties.

In 1786, Helena Charlotte Nordtmann married Lorentz Fjelderup Lassen (1756–1837), who would go on to become a counter admiral. His portrait – a matching counterpart to hers – is on display at Frederiksborg Castle.¹ Both portraits were presumably commissioned and executed on the basis of Lorentz Fjelderup Lassen’s heroic conduct in the First Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.

C. L. David acquired the portrait of Helena Charlotte Lassen at Johan Hansen’s auction in 1933 alongside several other paintings, including Jens Juel’s large portrait of Frederik VI as Crown Prince Regent (B 348).

Published in

Fortegnelse over Generalkonsul Johan Hansens Samling af dansk Kunst, Kastelsvej 16, Kjøbenhavn 1921, cat. 545, (Title here: Portrait af Fru Charlotte Lassen, f. Nordtmann);
Erik Zahle: ”Billedkunst” in C.L. Davids Samling. Nogle Studier, [1], København 1948, pp. 202, 235;
Dansk kunst og kunsthåndværk, Davids Samling, København 1972, p. 9;
Verner Jul Andersen: Dansk kunst og kunsthåndværk, Davids Samling, 2. ed., København 1983, cat. 409, p. 166;
Ellen Poulsen: Jens Juel. Vol. 1, Katalog, København 1991, cat. 848, p. 224;
Ellen Poulsen: Jens Juel. Vol. 2, Malerier og pasteller, København 1991, cat. 848, p. 551;