As the son of the Hamburg painter Leo Lehmann, Heinrich S. Lehmann received his first instruction in his hometown before moving in 1831 to Paris, the city of his dreams.With talent and diligence, he was able to realize his ambitious plans, becoming accepted by Ingres (1780-1867) as a student, debuting in 1835 at the Salon, and soon obtaining prestigious commissions for the decoration of churches and public buildings in Paris. Finally, in 1875 he was named to a professorship at the École des Beaux-Arts. At the height of his career, Lehmann was treasured as the portraitist of high society and intellectual luminaries from all of Europe.