Joseph Knaffl, the photographer, was the son of Austrian, Dr. Rudolph Knaffl. Once a physician at the esteemed court of Austria, he migrated to Tennessee after the 1848 Austrian revolution. Joseph’s interest in art & photography led him to open his own studio on Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. He soon had a very good business and developed many fine pieces of art and photographs that became famous and very popular. The “Knaffl Madonna & Child” was his finest work, and his masterpiece.