Ternite studied painting at the Academy in Berlin, after which he served in the army for a few years. In 1810, Frederick William III of Prussia summoned him to Berlin, and after the end of the Napoleonic Wars he was sent as a commissioner to Paris to retrieve the artworks that the French had plundered from Prussia and to purchase several new ones for the Royal Collection. He stayed in Paris until 1823 and was improving his painting skills under Jacques-Louis David and Antoine-Jean Gros. In the 1820th he also visited Italy and painted scenes from his travels after which several series of prints were published. After his return home, he became painter to the court and was appointed in 1826 inspector of royal art collections, which he remained until his retirement in 1864. He made his name portraying the wider royal family and other notables of Prussian high society.