Murray's primary influence was that of her father, Thomas Heaphy, a great portrait painter who used precise strokes to paint realistic faces of the people he was portraying.
During her stay in Rome under the tutelage of Horace Vernet, Murray improved her skills and learned a good sense of composition.

She was also influenced by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, who she admits to admiring in her monograph.
She went on to copy one of his paintings, La visión de San Antonio de Padua, which was exhibited at the Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1850.
Murray's primary influence was that of her father, Thomas Heaphy, a great portrait painter who used precise strokes to paint realistic faces of the people he was portraying. During her stay in Rome under the tutelage of Horace Vernet, Murray improved her skills and learned a good sense of composition.
She was also influenced by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, who she admits to admiring in her monograph. She went on to copy one of his paintings, La visión de San Antonio de Padua, which was exhibited at the Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1850.
Elizabeth Murray (painter)