Joseph Altenkopf was born in Vienna in 1818. He studied from 1834 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, followed by study trips through Switzerland, Italy and Austria. In 1855 he was appointed Director of the princely Eszterházy collection of paintings, but was relieved of his duties due to the misappropriation of objects from the collection. His artistic ability was especially characterized by imitating different styles of painting.