Born in Berlin, Daniel Woge trained under Antoine Pesne (1683–1757) and was later court painter to Adolphus Frederick IV, duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Woge remained in Neustrelitz for the rest of his life and apart from portraits, produced altarpieces and drawings for engravings.

Elizabeth Albertina (1713-61) was the eldest daughter of Frederick I, duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In 1735, she married Charles I, duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Their daughter, Charlotte, became Queen Charlotte when she married George III in 1761. Described as an ‘excellent mother’, all her children enjoyed a comprehensive education, learnt Latin, Greek, and French and read books by classical authors in their original language.

This portrait (the head in particular) appears to be the basis for Allan Ramsay’s elegant posthumous depiction of Elizabeth Albertine, who had died very soon after her daughter’s departure for England (c. 1769, RCIN 403553). Although Ramsay has softened and enhanced the features, suggesting he relied on a model to pose for the portrait. This portrait by Woge hung, together with a pendant of her husband (RCIN 402457), in the Bed-chamber in Buckingham House in 1785.