The only authentic portrait of Achim von Arnim was painted two years after his trip on the Rhine with Clemens Brentano. The artist was Peter Eduard Ströhling, a German living in London, where Arnim’s educational tour had taken him. The portrait was closely linked to Arnim and Brentano’s friendship. In 1804, Arnim gave it to his godson – the firstborn son of Brentano and Sophie Mereau – but unfortunately the boy died shortly after birth. In 1809, Clemens presented it to his sister Bettine, two years before she married Arnim.