"In the late nineteenth century art world, few could be unaware of Charles Fairfax Murray. By turns he was painter, dealer and connoisseur, collector and benefactor; friend of William Morris, Burne-Jones and the Rossettis, and protege of John Ruskin. The draper's son from Bow became the studio assistant to Burne-Jones and was later sent to Italy to make copies of Old Masters for Ruskin; as his travels increased and his knowledge grew, by application and through a prodigious memory he soon became an expert on classical Italian paintings and set up as a dealer and collector, whose remarkable gifts to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Dulwich Picture Gallery, the National Gallery and other institutions testify to his belief that the public must be given access to fine art." "He was, however, a much more private man than his flamboyant contemporaries, and his wish for anonymity was compounded by his having two large families, one in London, the other in Italy, neither of whom he lived with. This, the first biography of Fairfax Murray, is both a study of a multi-talented and influential man and an exploration of the Victorian art world."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved