Heinrich von Zugel's drawing talents were discovered and encouraged as early as the 1860s while the artist was still at school. This enabled the young artist to join the Stuttgart Kunstakademie in 1867 and the Munich Akademie two years later, where he interacted with the animal painter Anton Braith and Gotthard Kuehl. He believed, however, that Karl von Piloty's ways of teaching were not particularly beneficial to his artistic development and decided, influenced by the school of Diez, to work independently.

At the World Exhibition in Vienna in 1883 he was awarded the great gold medal for his painting Schafwäsche (Sheep Washing). Important museums acquired works by the young artist already during the 1880s. Inspired by trips t...