A sheet of head studies drawn by candle light

Deverell was born of English parents in Charlottesville, USA. He returned with his family to London in 1829 and studied at Sass's Drawing School, where he became a friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. From January to May 1851 he shared a studio with Rossetti at 17 Red Lion Square, later used by Burne-Jones and William Morris. Although he was never a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Deverell was influenced by their ideas. He died young of Bright's disease at the age of twenty-seven in 1854. He exhibited four works at the Royal Academy 1847-53, and his best known work is The Pet (Tate Gallery, London).

Giuseppe Maenza was an Italian artist and an old friend of Rossetti's parents, whom Dante Gabriel visited on a number of occasions. The two drawings mentioned after the measurements are probably by his son Peppino Maenza.