Dillis painted aristocratic and royal subjects in the German tradition with meticulous attention to naturalistic detail, producing equestrian and animal portraits that share the same precise academic oil technique and courtly prestige evident in Nerly's portrait of the Württemberg king's prized stallion.

Seele served as a court painter in Stuttgart and specialized in equestrian portraits and military subjects for Württemberg royalty, making his work directly comparable in subject matter, patronage context, and the formal academic oil technique used by Nerly in depicting this royal Arabian horse.