The Pre-Raphaelites took a very bold move away from the
conventional compositions and subject matter of their times.
Henry Wallis' The Death of Chatterton breaths intrigue through
its bold coloring scheme and its mysterious yet readable
subject. A man lies on a bed, close to the viewer in the
foreground of the work, with his eyes shut and his left arm
clutched tightly against his chest and his right arm fallen
limply over the side of the bed. There is a small box or chest
next to the man's head which is open with torn pieces of paper
spilling over the sides. The room is very dark besides a bright
red cloth in the right hand foreground and a small table in the
background that has an empty candle-stick holder and a piece of
paper on it. On the back wall of the composition appears a small
window with one side open to a bright late-afternoon sky.  Henry
Wallis paints with a very bold and contrasting palette. For
example, the man's face and neck appear exceedingly pale and
gauntly when contrasted up against his vi