Johann Ulrich Loth, father of Carlotto, who had gained great fame in Italy, counts among the most important representatives of early baroque painting in the Holy Roman Empire.
It is very likely that Johann Ulrich Loth was born in Munich some time before 1599. His father was the glass painter Paulus Loth, who was also in charge of his boy's first lessons in art.
Johann Ulrich Loth served an apprenticeship under Peter Candid, who had pursued a career as court painter in Munich as of 1615. Through his teacher Johann Ulrich Loth was in close contact with the Munich court from an early point on.
Maximilian I. acknowledged his talents and granted the young Johann Ulrich Loth a scholarship on which he extensively traveled Italy between 1619 and 1623. In the course of this journey Johann Ulrich Loth spent some time in Rome.
In 1624 Johann Ulrich Loth returned to Munich where he married Libia Krumpper, daughter of the well-known artist Hans Krumpper. Together they had two sons, Franz Loth (1639-1710) and Johann Carl Loth (1632-1698), who later was just called Carlotto in Italy.
In his works Johann Ulrich Loth used motifs he had encountered on his journey through Italy. Caravaggism, from which he never wrest a raw Realism, influenced Johann Ulrich Loth substantially. Additionally, the highly baroque art of, for instance, Peter Paul Rubens, which he encountered through reproduction prints, was also influential on Johann Ulrich Loth's world of images.
In 1629 Johann Ulrich Loth submitted request for release from court service, however, it was not before 1644 that the painters' gild recorded Johann Ulrich Loth as a freelance painter. However, Johann Ulrich Loth's productive powers soon declined. As of the late 1640s he hardly made any more paintings.
In 1662 Johann Ulrich Loth died in Munich.