Caroline Campbell was born and educated in Belfast. She read Modern History at University College, Oxford, and subsequently received an MA and a PhD from the Courtauld Institute, on the iconography of 15th century Florentine cassoni. She was Print Room Supervisor in the Department of Western Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (1998-2000); Curatorial Assistant (2000-01) and Assistant Curator of Renaissance Paintings (2001-05) at the National Gallery, London. Caroline joined the Courtauld as Schroder Foundation Curator of Paintings in 2005.