C.D. Stahi was a Romanian artist who was trained in a rigorous academic system. He started as an apprentice at a church painter and eventually became a teacher at the School of Fine Arts in Iasi. He studied with Gheorghe Bardasare Panaiteanu in Moldova's capital before going to Munich for further professional training. Along with Em. Panaiteanu Bardasare, Stahi was considered the main Moldavian engraver-draftsman and "honorable painter" contemporary with Grigorescu. Stahi's drawing was noted for its quality, being surpassed only by Grigorescu's drawing. His most successful works were those representing intimate, interior scenes. Stahi worked slowly and in a constant and unhurried rhythm, which suited this type of subject matter. He often reproduced established artistic themes, a custom of academic schools taken from the French and perpetuated in the Romanian space.