Early Life, Family and Training Emil Bott was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, though the exact timing of his arrival into the world remains a matter of some debate. Records suggest his birth occurred on July 24, 1824, 1825, or 1827. He was the son of Ludwig Christian Bott and Juliane Elisabethe Delporte, growing up in a household that would eventually see him move across the ocean to seek a new life in America. His formal education in the arts took him to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. During the years 1847 and 1848, he studied there, honing the skills that would define his career as a l…