Karl Theodor von Piloty (1826-1886) was born in Munich, where he attended the Academy, later furthering his studies in Belgium and Paris. Here he learned the Romantic manner of Hippolyte Delaroche, which over the years he merged with the Munich academic tradition. The artist achieved success mainly through his theatrical historical compositions, which he produced with a great display of skill and melodramatic effects. From 1858, he was a professor at the Munich Academy, of which he became director in 1874. "The Nanny" depicts an interior with two women and three children.