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Primary sourcePainting1846

Portrait of Petőfi with Beard

Miklós Barabás · 1846

An engraved portrait of the Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi, painted by Miklós Barabás in 1846, during the poet's lifetime.

This 1846 portrait shows Petőfi as a young man a few years before he became a key figure of the 1848 revolution.

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Black-and-white engraved portrait of a young man with wavy hair, a mustache and a goatee, wearing a dark buttoned jacket with a white collar. Handwritten signature 'Petőfi Sándor' appears below.
Miklós Barabás, Portrait of Sándor Petőfi, 1846.

About this source

What it is

This is a portrait of the poet Sándor Petőfi, made in 1846 by the artist Miklós Barabás. It shows a young man with wavy hair, a mustache and a goatee, wearing a dark buttoned jacket with a white collar. A handwritten signature reading 'Petőfi Sándor' appears below the image.

Why it matters

Because this portrait was made while Petőfi was alive, it gives us a direct look at how he appeared to his contemporaries just a few years before he became a leading voice of the 1848 Hungarian revolution. Barabás was a well-known portrait painter of the time, and his works help historians picture the people of this era.

Look closer

  • What does Petőfi's clothing and posture suggest about his social status or self-image?
  • Why might an artist of this time choose to paint a writer in this formal style?
  • What does this image not tell us about Petőfi's ideas or personality?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sándor Petőfi on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Handwritten manuscript on aged, yellowed paper titled 'Nemzeti dal' in cursive Hungarian script, with crossed-out lines and revisions, a round stamp at left and a dated stamp at lower right, and a signature at the bottom right.Book

Primary source

Nemzeti dal

Sándor Petőfi · 13 March 1848

Printed broadside of the poem Nemzeti dal (National Song) by Sándor Petőfi, in Hungarian, two columns of verse with a handwritten dedication note in cursive at the bottom and the signature Petőfi Sándor.Document

Primary source

Nemzetidal broadside

Sándor Petőfi · 15 March 1848

Front cover of the first edition of János Vitéz by Sándor Petőfi. Title reads 'JÁNOS VITÉZ, Irta PETŐFI SÁNDOR, Ára 40 kr. p.p.' with a drawing of a hussar on a rearing white horse, with a village and river in the background. Printer's line at bottom: 'Nyomt. Gumm Vnél, Pesten'.Book

Primary source

János vitéz

Sándor Petőfi · 1845 (written 1844)

Black-and-white portrait of a young man with dark, swept-back hair, dark jacket, and light-colored cravat, looking at the viewer with a serious expression. He holds a dark object at lower left. The image is grainy and scratched.Photograph

Primary source

Sándor Petőfi

Gábor Egressy · 1844

Oil painting of a young man with a dark pompadour hairstyle and a thick curled mustache, wearing a dark jacket, white collar and red cravat, against a warm golden-brown background. Signature and date in red at lower right.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Sándor Petőfi

Orlai Petrich Soma

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