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.

Christiana of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, elder sister of Queen Charlotte (1744–1818), was appointed to the First Class of the Order of St Catherine by Catherine II on 13 January 1766. The Order, founded by Peter the Great in 1714 in honour of his wife, the Empress Catherine, was only awarded to ladies of the highest distinction in Europe. Woge trained in Berlin under Antoine Pesne (1683–1757) and was later court painter to Adolphus Frederick IV of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1738–94). The sitter is depicted wearing the splendid green velvet and gold brocade costume of the Order, and the portrait may have been sent to her sister as a gift to mark her membership. She wears the sash over her right shoulder, with the badge, richly decorated with diamonds, attached at the base; the star of the order is pinned at her left breast, with a crowned portrait miniature of Queen Charlotte, in the style of a royal family order above.

The almond-shaped eyes of the sitter are a possible indication of a thyroid condition such as Graves’ disease, which enlarges the eyeball.

The painting appears in Pyne's Illustrated Royal Residences of 1819, hanging in the Dining Room at Frogmore House (RCIN 922119).

Text adapted from Russia: Art, Royalty & the Romanovs, London, 2018