John Zephaniah Bell: Restorer of Fresco and Painter of Victorian Life John Zephaniah Bell (1794–1883) emerges from the annals of 19th-century British art not as a household name, but as a quietly influential figure—a preserver of a lost tradition and a skilled interpreter of his era. Born in Dundee amidst a family involved in tanning and banking, Bell’s artistic journey began with formal studies at the University of Edinburgh before f…