Wolf was a German-born artist. He settled in England in 1848 and is described as the most successful natural history painter of his generation. He pursued his art according to the principle that ‘we see distinctly only what we know thoroughly,’ and paired exacting detail with a determination to capture the liveliness of his subjects.

He provided illustrations for many noteworthy organisations including the Zoological Society, skilfully bringing together the best attributes of science and art. Wolf was admired for treating his subjects as individual and distinct, rather than just examples of a species. A large number of his studies are held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.