Nolde was fascinated by physiognomy and by the shared facial characteristics of nations and their people. In the series of portraits to which Junge Jdin belongs, he endeavoured to capture the beauty and dignity of the people his subject represented: "[Nolde] ... attached such importance to the human face that it became a central theme in his art. However, Nolde was primarily concerned with the universal, typical features to be discerned in the individual face, features expressing the fundamental passions and emotions. It was his interest in the 'original' or primordial element that made him prefer the mask to the portrait." (W.Haftmann, Emil Nolde, New York, p.98)

Nolde painted a number of expressive typological portraits inspired by his travels: the sketches made of Russians during his Trans-Siberian journey resulted in a number of paintings in 1914-5, including Zwei Russen II (Urban 668) in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the dark, exotic faces of natives he saw in the South Seas resulted in Neue-Guinea-Wilde (Urban 669) in the Nolde-Stiftung, Seebll. Several further portraits of this ilk are housed in museum collections.
Nolde was instinctively drawn to paint foreign physiognomies: "the painter was always attracted by 'unusual' faces, perhaps it is easier to discover the typical in the unfamiliar, and because he discerned a primitive element in the typical that related to the mask." (ibid. p.62). He was particularly fascinated by those who differed the most from his own Frisian type, and with Junge Jdin it is the black-hair, sallow complexion and the dignified beauty of a young Jewish girl which particularly attracted him.