In 1848, social unrest abounds. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a secret group of young artists, forms in order to take on the sclerotic Royal Academy. The original three members add four friends to their ranks.

Art critic John Ruskin and his wife Effie travel to Scotland with John Everett Millais, a PRB leader. Millais falls in love with Effie and discovers that the Ruskins' marriage is in fact a sham.

Millais has married Effie after the annulment of her first marriage. William Holman Hunt and Millais both become successful artists.