However, he derived more inspiration from nature and his studies of the old Dutch Masters at the Alte Pinakothek.

He was heavily influenced by Albrecht Adam and his friends, Carl Spitzweg and Eduard Schleich.

During a tour of Belgium and the Netherlands in 1846, he absorbed the style of the Dutch Stimmungsmalern ("mood painters").

He experimented with lighting, producing warm golden colors and cool silvery tones.

In his later paintings, the animals are virtually treated as still-lifes, with the dramatic effects created by the play of light.