On 23 May 1860, in the picturesque Czech town Vraný (ca. 60 km from Prague, then part of the Austrian Empire, today – of the Czech Republic), was born Jaroslav František Julius Věšín. His father was Czech by origin and physician by trade, participated in the 1848 revolution, for which he was sentenced to death, later pardoned. His mother, of German origin, had a penchant for the arts (she herself played the piano), which she passed on to her six children.
In late 1876, Jaroslav Věšín was accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and enrolled in the studio of Antonín Lhota (1812–1905), a representative of the history and religious art school, professor and rector of the Prague Academy. Four years later, he moved to the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, the Bavarian capital had been among the leading European cultural centres and an attractive place for artists. In Munich, Jaroslav Věšín came under the influence of the creative philosophy of Karl Theodor von Piloty (1826–1886), professor at the Academy and representative of the history painting, and of the colour palette of the genre painting of Piloty’s student and also a professor Otto Seitz (1846–1912). Jaroslav Věšín joined the studio of another artist – Józef Brandt (1841–1915), a Pole with an affinity for historical military subjects, who also studied under K. Piloty. While in Prague, Jaroslav Věšín became a member of the “Art Association for Bohemia” – a Czech society supporting the arts, considered as the most important one throughout its almost centennial existence.