Provenance: The portrayed. After Anna von Eppingen's death in 1822, the pastels passed to Count and Minister Wilhelm Carl Sponneck (1815–1888) and remained in this family until 1984. The last owner was countess Hilda Johanne (1914–1984). Her estate auction Bruun Rasmussen 474, 1985 no. 223, ill. pp. 28 and 29.

Addition on January 27, 2025:

The couple portrayed had a scandal-ridden and tragic past, which in no way can be read in their calm smiling faces in the present portraits.

Anna Maria Oxholm was married in 1781 - at the age of 19 - to the painter Nicolai Abildgaard (1743–1809). She was pregnant and gave birth to their son Marcus Aurelius later that year. It was a very short and unhappy marriage, which ended with Anna Maria Abildgaard running away from home in 1784 with chamberlain Reinhard Henrik von Eppingen (1749–1821). It was a major scandal at the time and was followed by embarrassing legal battles. Von Eppingen was stripped of his title of chamberlain and his pension, and the couple had to settle in Sweden while the legal battles were ongoing. It was not until 1789 that Nicolai Abildgaard and Anna Maria were divorced, and she and von Eppingen were able to legally marry. In the meantime, in 1786, Anna Maria and Nicolai Abildgaard's son Marcus Aurelius had tragically died of croup.

The present portraits were probably painted shortly after their marriage.

Bruun Rasmussen thanks writer and MA in art history Charlotte Christensen for the above important addition to the story of the young couple.