English: Before enrolling in the École des Beaux-Arts, Scheffer studied with the neoclassically trained artist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, whose mastery of the art of the past and high technical finish he emulated. He exhibited his first works at the age of 17 in the 1812 Salon in the so-called "juste-milieu" (in English, literally, middle path) tradition. Scheffer was attracted to romantic themes gleaned from contemporary authors such as Sir Walter Scott and Goethe. His meteoric rise in the art world drew instant critical acclaim and the acquaintance of such artists as Théodore Géricault, Eugène Delacroix, and Paul Delaroche.

This work was not seen until after Scheffer's death. He stopped exhibiting at the Salon altogether in 1846 and became increasingly preoccupied with religious imagery with a seriousness that reflects a pointed departure from his earlier, more anecdotal work. In this iconic image, he focuses on the solitary figure of Christ, who is weeping for the coming destruction of Jerusalem, as described by the Evangelist Luke in the New Testament (19:41): "As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it."