European academic tradition has included many different forms of art. In addition to music, drawing and painting formed an essential part of the skills of every member of the intelligentsia in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Magnus von Wright, born on June 13, 1805 at the Haminanlahti estate in Kuopio, was the oldest of three artist brothers. His interest in science was sparked at an early age when he hunted birds with his father and brothers in the surrounding forests.

Erik Nikolai Järnefelt was born in Vyborg in November 1863 to a wealthy family and a world of opportunity. His parents were the senator and governor lieutenant August Alexander Järnefelt and Baroness Elisabeth Clodt von Jürgensburg. A circle of artists formed around the mother of the family, including figures like Minna Canth, Juhani Aho and Jean Sibelius. The young Järnefelt was surrounded by artistic geniuses of various fields from an early age.

Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt was born in July 1854 at the Kiiala estate in the rural municipality of Porvoo. His father, Carl Albert, who was descended from a noble Swedish military family, was the regional architect of Tavastia and later the director-general of the Edification Board. The mother of the family, Alexandra Augusta Brandt was a nationalist thinker and amateur poet closely associated with Johan Ludvig Runeberg.