Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893) was an English painter and versatile artist. He came from a poor family. He was to become a sailor, like his father. For his extraordinary talent in copying the works of old masters ( Cloak of Many Colours, Elias and Son), he was signed up for and accepted at the academy. In the 1840s, his great admirer Dante Gabriel Rossetti asked him to be his master. Brown accepted this offer, which led him to the Pre-Raphaelite club, which inspired him through bright colours and a realistic style. In 1851, after a long period of public indifference to his works, he painted his most famous work, Lambs. His main achievement, however, is a cycle of 12 paintings in the Great Hall of the Manchester townhouse, which depicts the history of the city. The whole job took six years and was Brown’s last work.