PESNE, Antoine
(b. 1683, Paris, d. 1757, Berlin)

Portrait of Johanna Elisabeth, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst

c. 1746
Oil on canvas, 143 x 110 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Princess Johanna Elisabeth (1712-1760) was the daughter of Prince Christian August of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin and sister of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden. She married Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (1690-1747). They had five children, one of them, Sophie Auguste Fredericka (1729-1796) later became Catherine II the Great, Empress of Russia.