In the 1850s an exceptional number of superb painters were
living in London. Among the finest of these artists were
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William
Holman Hunt. These men established the Pre-Raphaelite
Brotherhood, a school of painting which advocated realism
in its images and the portrayal of a story in its subject matter.
Several other important painters in England were attracted
to this movement and were subsequently influenced by its
methods. It is not to be wondered at that many of these artists
began to experiment with the art of illustration...