The present work is either a sketch for the final large painting “Christian IX og Dronning Louise med familie i havesalen på Fredensborg 1883”, which Tuxen worked on in the years 1883 to 1886 and which measures 440×670 cm. This work hangs at Christiansborg Castle (Lise Svanholm, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Laurits Tuxen, 1990, no. 275). Or it is a repetition of the sketch for the above mentioned final painting (The Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, Inv. No. 6818, and Lise Svanholm, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Laurits Tuxen, 1990, no. 242).

All the many years Tuxen worked on the large painting tells something about the difficult and protracted process it has been to create such a large figure composition with so many important people. For three years, he was constantly on the move between St. Petersburg, Gmunden, London and Copenhagen to make detailed studies of all the portrayed, and this is the painting by Tuxen from which most sketches, studies etc. are preserved.

Tuxen had very early in the process laid out the overall composition - as seen in the present work - after he had attended a Royal banquet at Fredensborg Palace where he had settled on the right setting and the correct placement of the many princes and their families.

Christian IX became known as the father-in-law of all of Europe, as three of his children, in addition to Crown Prince Frederik (later Frederik VIII), were placed on European thrones: Empress Dagmar (1847–1928) was married to Alexander III (1845–1894), Tsar of Russia; Princess Alexandra (1844–1925) was married to the Prince of Wales, the later Edward VII (1841–1910); and Prince William (1845–1913) was appointed King of Greece in 1863 under the name George I. It was very important that the mutual ranking between all these royal persons was strictly observed in the overall composition (see photo with overview of who is who).

“Christian IX og Dronning Louise med familie i havesalen på Fredensborg” was Tuxen's debut as a painter of princes, and it was going to be decisive for his further career as an artist.

As Tuxen himself puts it just after he received the assignment for the painting: “I have to think of what Bonnat once said when I expressed to him my doubts about which direction I should take - ”aah, that will be decided by chance - when I had painted Thiers's portrait, I got so many orders that I couldn't handle them all.“ (”Laurits Tuxen. En malers arbejde gennem tredsindstyve aar fortalt af ham selv", 1928, p.104).

Leon Bonnat (1833–1922) was Tuxen's teacher in Paris and the above quotation testifies that, in the same way as Bonnat's portrait of President Adolph Thiers from 1877 (Louvre, Inv. No. 20374) became decisive for his future as a portrait painter, Tuxen's Fredensborg painting became crucial for his future artistic career. Later, other great princely compositions followed, e.g. “The Family of Queen Victoria in 1887” (The Royal Collection, London, Inv. No. RCIN 400500); “The Marriage of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, 26th November 1894” (The Royal Collection, London, Inv. No. RCIN 404465); “Tsar Nicholas IIs coronation in the Uspenski Cathedral in Moscow” (The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg); and “The Marriage of Princess Maud of Wales, 22 July 1896” (The Royal Collection, London, Inv. No. RCIN 404464).

Bruun Rasmussen would like to thank writer and MA in art history Lise Svanholm for confirming the attribution to Laurits Tuxen.