Born in 1848 in Bologna, von Courten came from an old Swiss family and was the son of a general of the army of the Papal States. In 1867 he also joined himself to the service of the Papal army, to which he belonged until the dissolution of the old Papal States in 1870. He then went to Munich where he continued his art studies which he had already begun in Italy. Here he became a pupil of Karl Theodor von Piloty at the Munich art Academy. As a result, he was a sought-after portraitist and genre painter. He also worked on historical and religious themes. He created his most important works for King Ludwig the Second, for his estate Herrenchiemsee or New Palace built 1878-1886 on Herreninsel, an island in the Chiemsee 60km Southeast of Munich.

In 1873 Angelo was married to Irene Athenais of Courten of Klenze (1850-1916). She was a grandaughter of Leon von Klenze and had her future husband as a model. Angelo and Irene von Courten had six children including Louis (1885-1969), who followed in the footsteps of his father. Angelo von Courten lived until his death in Munich in 1925.