It is a well known portrait of Ferenc Kölcsey, a leading Hungarian poet, literary critic, orator, and politician in the Reform Era, who wrote the Himnusz, the national anthem of Hungary.

The idea of the portrait painting emerged for the first time in a letter written by the literary critic Ferenc Toldy to Kölcsey on 10 December 1834.

The portrait was made for the 1836 issue of Aurora, the prestigious literary almanac of the Reform Era whose editor was József Bajza.

Bajza wrote a private letter to Kölcsey on 17 January 1836: "The Aurora was published but without the image of my dear friend, because the engraver could not make his work done properly as I wished.

"At the time my poor, since deceased friend were on his way back to home after the unpleasantries of the diet", wrote Bártfay in a letter in 1839, more than three years after Kölcsey's sudden death.