This is an early self portrait by Hunt at about the time he met Millais at the Royal Academy Schools. This was before the formation of The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. In style it is conventional painted with old masterly sweeps of the brush and dark background. Hunt's style became quite distinct by 1847 (Christ and The Two Marys), and painted the first truly Pre-Raphaelite pictures the following year. Hunt was the intellectual force behind the Brotherhood, although not as gifted as Millais he was uncompromising and determined to work as an artist in an entirely new way. [http://hoocher.com/William_Holman_Hunt/William_Holman_Hunt.htm]