Hermann Stilke

He had originally intended to devote himself to agriculture, but was attracted to art instead and began his studies at the Berlin Academy with Carl Wilhelm Kolbe.

The following year, he transferred to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied with Peter von Cornelius.

He also worked as an assistant to Karl Stürmer [de], who was painting a "Last Judgment" at the tax court in Koblenz.

After a brief stay in Berlin, he returned to Düsseldorf and continued his studies with Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow at the Kunstakademie and worked as a teaching assistant.

During that time, he also received a commission to decorate the Great Hall at Stolzenfels Castle; creating murals of the "Six Knightly Virtues"; a project he completed in 1846.