It was painted in 1848 or early 1849, at a time when the poet and the painter had established a friendship.

[1] It was shown in the Courbet Pavilion at the Exposition Universelle of 1855, and was bought four years later by the publisher Auguste Poulet-Malassis, who then nominally sold it to Charles Asselineau on 15 June 1862 to prevent it being seized.

Alfred Bruyas acquired it for 3000 francs and in 1876 gave it to the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, where it still hangs.

Courbet presents the classic elements of a writer with his pen and books.

The colors used are dark but the light highlights the decor and not Baudelaire, which creates a parallel with the Spleen and the Ideal.