William Holman Hunt (1827-1910)

Holman Hunt was born in London, and despite discouragement from his father, he chose to become an artist and gained admission to the Royal Academy Schools on his third attempt where he met Millais and afterwards Rossetti, and founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

His paintings are characterised by extreme detail, bright light and stark, somewhat harsh, colours and are obviously the result of painstaking efforts. He was intrigued by the Middle East and his work contains many painted scenes of Jerusalem.