Queen Juliana (1729-96) was the daughter of Albrecht, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. In 1752, she married Frederick V of Denmark as his second wife. From 1772 until 1784, after the breakdown of the marriage of her stepson, King Christian VII of Denmark, and his increasing mental instability, she effectively ruled Denmark with her own son, Prince Frederick. She also founded the porcelain factory known today as Royal Copenhagen.

This tiny miniature was probably originally set as a ring. It is a copy of a larger miniature in the Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen. The identity of the artist is unknown, but both miniatures are based on a portrait by Carl Gustav Pilo, known from a line engraving by Johann Martin Preisler of 1757, and another by Johann Essaias Nilson. It has been suggested that Nilson painted both miniatures.