In the 1740s, he did some drawings for early versions of the Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie by Frederic Louis Norden on behalf of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.

[1] On that basis, in 1754, he was recommended to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts for a travel scholarship that would enable him to become "an accomplished history painter".

[2] He began doing set decorations in the mid 1750s, when he created scenes for a friend, Niels Krog Bredal [da], a composer who had recently written two operas.

[1] In addition to his theater work, he did genre scenes reminiscent of David Teniers and Adriaen Brouwer and was one of first to take inspiration from the Danish peasantry.

The following year, he sent them two works that had been successfully exhibited, became a member, and had his portrait painted by Vigilius Eriksen.