In the mid-nineteenth century, fears that France was about to invade England, caused a large number of army corps to be set up. Almost every trade – bakers, railway-workers, butchers, bankers – had its own regiment. Artists were no exception. The registration book of the Artists’ Rifles Corp reads like an artistic edition of “Who’s Who”, every important name is in there: Dante Rossetti, Lord Leighton, John Millais, Laurence Alma-Tadema to name just a few. Where Lord Leighton was, so were fabulous and exotic parties and initially the regiment was something of a joke, more of a social club than a serious military corp.