John William Waterhouse was born in 1849 to English parents, both painters, who were then living in Rome, Italy. His family soon returned to England, where he was raised. He began studying art from an early age, assisting in his father's studio, and entered into the Royal Academy school at the age of 21. Waterhouse would later exhibit his work at the Royal Academy to great acclaim, and he was honored with membership in the Academy in 1895.

A neo-classical Romanticist, Waterhouse embraced the themes and was influenced by the art of the pre-Raphaelites, though his style and palette are uniquely his own. His 200+ works have come to epitomize the popular conception of pre-Raphaelite art.

Myth, melancholy, tragedy and the femme fatale as a womanly ideal are recurrent themes in the artist's paintings of heroes, martyrs, demi-gods and witches; qualities that endear his work to the gothic heart.

John William Waterhouse died in 1917, leaving unfinished his last painting, The Enchanted Garden.