[1] Stieler had been court painter in the Bavarian capital Munich since 1820.

In 1823 he had painted the Portrait of Amalie Auguste of Bavaria featuring Ludwig's younger sister.

[2] Ludwig subsequently commissioned Stieler to supply many of the paintings for his Gallery of Beauties at the Nymphenburg Palace.

[3] After succeeding his father Maximilian Joseph, Ludwig became the second king of Bavaria, then an independent state and a member of the German Confederation.

Sitting next to him are a copy of the Bavarian Constitution of 1818 and the Crown of Bavaria The painting is now in the collection of the Neue Pinakothek in Munich.