Theodor Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Kaulbach (8 July 1822 – 17 September 1903) was a German painter from Bad Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Among other benefits, the king gave him his own studio and residential building, designed by the architect Christian Heinrich Tramm (1857–60) on Waterloo Street in Hanover.

In her memoirs, his daughter Isidore [de] described the visitors to the family home, who included Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt, Joseph Joachim, Ernst von Wildenbruch and Anton Rubinstein.

His numerous portraits, such as those of Empress Elisabeth, Crown Prince Albrecht, and the Count and Countess Stolberg, are extraordinarily detailed, even luminescent.

Kaulbach received the Gold Medal from the Berlin Art Academy at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair.