(b Maldon, Essex, 23 Jan 1810; d Kilburn, London, 17 March 1890). English painter. In 1826 he entered the Royal Academy Schools, London. He began exhibiting portraits at the Royal Academy in 1830 and until 1836 made his living chiefly through portraiture and book illustration. In 1836 Herbert visited Italy, and for the next few years his work consisted chiefly of Italian historical genre paintings such as the Appointed Hour (exh. London, Brit. Inst., 1835; untraced). Herbert greatly admired the architect A. W. N. Pugin and probably in 1840, through Pugin's influence, was converted to Roman Catholicism. Subsequently, Herbert's religious beliefs dictated the subjects of his work, for example Sir Thomas More and his Daughter (1844; London, Tate). Herbert was employed by William Dyce at the Schools of Design by 1842, at which time the two artists collaborated on a book of nursery rhymes, tales and jingles. Herbert's style, like that of Dyce, was influenced by the Nazarenes, and he shared their concern with historical authenticity and their use of bright colours and hard outlines.
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