Georg Philipp Schmitt was born in 1808 in Spechbach near Landstuhl, Germany. He received his education from Father Cornelius in Munich and was inspired by the themes, composition, and coloration of the Nazarene school. After a falling out with his master, he returned to the Palatinate, to Heidelberg, and worked freely from then on. G.Ph. Schmitt is the father of the famous portrait painter of the London high nobility Guido Schmitt.