He was born in Mattersburg and began studying art in Vienna in 1812. Born to Jewish parents, he converted to Catholicism in order to pursue a career in art, and adopted the surname Alconiere. He made a pilgrimage to Rome in the 1830s, where he spent 13 years pursuing art studies. He returned to Hungary in the 1840s and painted in the towns of Székesfehérvár, Pápa and Pest until the 1850s when he moved back to Vienna. He then dedicated his life entirely to the pursuit of his religion and died as a cleric in a monastery at Vienna.