[2][3][4] He received his first formal drawing lessons from the architect C. V. Nielsen, then studied perspective at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1868.

After six months there, he made a study trip to Turkey and Greece, spent some time in Paris, visited Switzerland, and, in 1874, returned to Istanbul with his mother.

A year later, Maria became violently ill and died in November 1876.In the aftermath of the death of his wife, he considered suicide but slowly regained his will to live.

[5][9] His mother completed a book of remembrance, Til erindring om Harald Jerichau, which was first published during 1879.

[10] In 1879, a small exhibition of his works was held in Copenhagen, featuring scenes painted in Turkey that had been commissioned by the brewer, J.C. Jacobsen.