The Old Library of the Oxford Union – the debating society of Oxford University – was established in 1825. In 1857 it became the setting for what is sometimes described as a second Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, as seven artists worked together on a series of murals. This project was organized by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who by this time was a close friend of Morris and Burne-Jones, who were studying at Oxford. The other artists involved were Val Prinsep, John Hungerford Pollen, Arthur Hughes and John Rodham Spencer Stanhope. William Riviere and his son Briton painted the three panels that were left over when Rossetti and his friends abandoned the work at the end of the Long Vacation of 1857.

The subject of the murals is Le Morte d’Arthur. The current debating hall was designed by Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1935) whose other works include the glorious Natural History Museum in London. The Hall contains busts of Asquith, Gladstone and Lord Curzon, among many others. Notable speakers at the Union have included Randolph Churchill (father of Winston), Harold McMillan, and Benazir Bhutto who was President of the Union in 1977.

The process of creating the murals was fairly chaotic, as John Ruskin – who commissioned the murals – said they were “all the least bit crazy and it’s very difficult to manage them”. Since the murals were directly painted onto the wall without plaster or adequate underpainting they began to suffer decay very quickly. Morris later completely repainted his design for the ceiling.