In the summer of 1829, Købke spent a couple of months at the home of vicar J. C. Hahn. Here, Købke had a summer infatuation with one of the vicar's two daughters, Margrethe, called Grethe. He painted a portrait of Grethe for the family, and a repetition for himself as a memory (the present portrait). Art historian, Hans Edvard Nørregård-Nielsen, describes the small, fine portrait in “Christen Købke - Omkring Kastellet” p. 112 (in Danish): “Her face is like a winter apple, but with a sweetness, that moves downwards and gathers around her mouth, while the sadness in her eyes most certainly is due to her youth and the fact that the two of them were about to part”.

Emil Hannover, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Christen Købke, 1893 no. 16.

Mario Krohn, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Christen Købke, 1915 no. 19.

Jørgen Folmers og Iben From, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Christen Købke, 1996 no. 19.

Exhibited: Kunstforeningen, “Katalog over Malerier og Studier af Christen Schiellerup Købke”, 1884 no. 6. Copenhagen, “Raadhusudstillingen af Dansk Kunst til 1890”, 1901 no. 1017. Guildhall, London, “Exhibition of Works by Danish Painters”, 1907 no. 220. Kunstforeningen, “Fortegnelse over Købkes Malerier, 1912 no. 18. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, “Købke og kastellet - Et dansk guldaldermotiv”, 1981 no. 3. Statens Museum for Kunst, “Christen Købke 1810–1848”, 1996 no. 19.

Literature: Emil Hannover, “Maleren Christen Købke - En studie i dansk kunsthistorie”, 1893, mentioned on p. 16 and reproduced on p. 17. Hannover describes the portrait as follows (in Danish): “A portrait of the beautiful maiden Margrethe Hahn [...] was the result of this infatuation, a portrait of a 19 y. o. blue-eyed, slender, straight-backed and serious girl-beauty, framed in the picturesque dress of the period with the short waist, large puff sleeves and the white, transparent ”Bertha“ covering the bare shoulders”.

Hans Edvard Nørregård-Nielsen, “Undervejs med Christen Købke”, 1991, mentioned on pp. 29–32 and reproduced p. 33.

Hans Edvard Nørregård-Nielsen, “Christen Købke- Omkring Kastellet”, vol. I, 1996, mentioned on p. 112.

Hans Edvard Nørregård-Nielsen, “Christen Købke 1810–1848”, 1996, mentioned on p. 40 and reproduced on p. 43. Nørregård-Nielsen notes of the two portraits of Hahn (in Danish): “A summer infatuation with Margrethe Hahn from the vicarage in Brabrand, resulted in a painting for her, and one for him [...]”.

Provenance: Christen Købke, who painted the portrait for himself. Pietro Krohn (1884). Mario Krohn (1912). Iron caster Brandt (1915); his auction, Winkel & Magnussen 77, 1930 no. 79, reproduced p. 14 in the catalogue; here acquired by Theodora Vøgg. Kunsthallen, Copenhagen, 29. august 1996, no. 59. Here acquired by the present owner, a distinguished private collector.