Wyatt was born in London, the son of Edward Wyatt the elder (1757–1833) and Anne Maddox; he was baptised at St James, Middlesex. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools, where he gained two medals, and served his apprenticeship with John Charles Felix Rossi. In 1818 he exhibited at the academy a "Judgment of Paris", and in 1819 a monument to Lady Anne Hudson; other early memorial works by him are in Esher church and St. John's Wood chapel. When Canova visited this country Wyatt was brought under his notice by Sir Thomas Lawrence, and received from him an invitation to Rome. He left England early in 1821, and, after studying for a few months in Paris under Bosio, proceeded to Rome, and entered the studio of Canova, where he had John Gibson (1790–1866) as a fellow pupil.