The manuscript opens with a passage in Brentano’s handwriting. The first few sentences have been crossed out by an unknown hand. Arnim begins writing on the third page, expressing his views through the figure of a “tall, mild-mannered man”, who is the last person to comment on Friedrich’s painting. The final sentence on the fourth page was written by Brentano.

The authors sent their text to Heinrich von Kleist, who shortened it considerably and also made revisions. Kleist left the introduction largely intact, but adopted only a few key terms from the dialogue section and deleted all the critical and ironic remarks. On 13 October 1810, the piece appeared in the Berliner Abendblätter. Because Brentano was annoyed by the changes, Kleist later printed a statement explaining that he was responsible for the text.