Carl Goebel studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and was represented at the exhibitions there from 1843. His acquaintance with Alexander Fürst Schönburg von Hartenstein gave him access to the upper circles in Vienna. There he became one of the sought-after portraitists alongside Josef Kriehuber. From the middle of the century, Goebel began a busy travel activity that took him from Kiev across Europe to Spain and Africa. Numerous popular genre scenes and costume studies were created on these trips.