This is a repetition with the same dimensions as a painting from 1845 at The Danish National Gallery (Inv. no. KMS506). There are minor differences in details and colours.

Ludvig Holberg's comedies were a great source of inspiration for Danish painters in the late 18th and the 19th century, including Johannes Wiedewelt, Nikolai Abildgaard, C.A. Lorentzen, C.W. Eckersberg and not least Wilhelm Marstrand who all his life was devoted to Holberg's comedies with his descriptions of daily life, seen through the playwright’s satirical glasses. In his works Marstrand places Holberg's figures in the living rooms of the citizens and peasants of the Danish Golden Age.

“Barselstuen", (The Lying-in Room) was first performed in early October of 1723 at the theatre in Lille Grønnegade. The present motif was so popular that a lithography was made of it. Hosting a Lying-in Room was a social institution in Holberg's time. It was customary for the new mother not to be seen in public for six weeks after giving birth, instead, she would receive visits while lying in a beautifully made bed. Many daily visits could become a costly affair, and the authorities sought to stem the extravagance by law.