István Széchenyi at the Iron Gate of the Danube

Despite considerable experience in studio work, the compositions of the Schoefft family, who lived in Pest, cannot be compared with those of the Viennese masters. Széchenyi nevertheless agreed to sit for the young August Schoefft in a uniform-like gala dress wearing his sword and decorations. In the background, the mountains of the Iron Gate region of the Danube are painted from an engraving in a realistic manner. The painter's father, József Schoefft made several copies of the painting. The picture shown here is one of these copies.