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Mór Than won First Prize of the Pest Art Society's historical painting competition in 1857 with this picture entitled "King Emeric Captures His Insurgent Brother Andrew". The Academic style of the composition is characteristic of the Viennese school of the painter Rahl, where Than studied. Than always paid close attention to the gestures bounding the various groups of figures together, to the balance of tones and forms, and he arranged the composition around a central axis. These stylistic elements were especially becoming in his monumental frescoes which he produced later in his career.
King Emeric's forceful, royal gesture dominates this picture. Emeric (1196-1204) had one of the most turbulent lives among the kings of the Árpád Dynasty: he had to fight throughout his life against his younger brother, Andrew, who also claimed the throne, and whom he eventually captured. Finally, after Emeric's death, his brother did become king of Hungary under the name Andrew II (1205-1235).
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