Portræt af Frederik IV's datter prinsesse Charlotte Amalie 1723 - 1747

Curator: Here we have a portrait, believed to depict Princess Charlotte Amalie, daughter of Frederick IV of Denmark, crafted sometime between 1723 and 1747 by Hinrich Jacob Pohle. Note the delicate precision, characteristic of academic Baroque art. Editor: She looks like a ghost! Sort of haunting and vulnerable all at once, peering out from this grey void. Curator: Indeed, the work offers a powerful study in contrast. Pohle employed expert draughtsmanship, and if you look closely, one sees how line and form create dimensionality within the confines of the miniature. It invites contemplation about Baroque ideals of beauty and representation. Editor: That’s it exactly! It’s like the artist trapped a real-life noble lady and her royal anxieties in an oval snow globe, all powdered wig and fancy crown. Curator: An astute observation. The monochrome palette directs the viewer to focus on form, an academic concentration on achieving naturalism, while highlighting social position. Editor: Still, all those textures of ermine fur, glinting jewels...in grayscale! It feels like the essence of the princess is rendered and yet something feels...muted, distant. Curator: Certainly. In Pohle’s work, representation and aesthetic construct coalesce. Through the deployment of convention, the sitter, is simultaneously present and mediated. Editor: All that to say, Pohle did what he could with the materials available at the time to immortalize a melancholy princess! Thanks for walking me through that! Curator: You are most welcome, the insights you have shared, are invaluable.