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.

Pre-Raphaelitism begins to disintegrate when Morris adopts a new ideal in socialism.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's life and relationships become complicated, especially after the tragic death of his wife Lizzie.

Rossetti acquires a follower in William Morris but his life is troubled by drug addiction, and he becomes increasingly isolated.

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.