born Jan. 27, 1805, London, Eng.
died May 24, 1881, Redhill, Surrey
British painter and etcher.
He began exhibiting conventional landscapes at the Royal Academy by 14. After converting to a personal form of High Anglicanism and discovering medieval art, he developed a visionary style, displaying a mystical but precise depiction of nature and an overflowing religious intensity, united by a vivid re-creation of the pastoral conventions. In these works he was encouraged and influenced by William Blake . As his religious fervour faded after 1830, the precarious balance between realism and vision was lost.