Johnson studied in Birmingham under Samuel Lines, whose luminous technique made a firm impression upon his students, and afterwards in London under William James Müller, through whom Johnson became fascinated by the ancient history of the Mediterranean. In 1843 Müller and Johnson (at Müller’s expense) joined Charles Fellows’s archaeological expedition to Lycia, drawing and painting. Johnson’s romantic vision of the history of his subjects was alluring and popular. In this typical picture, the sun sets behind the ancient Santa Barbara Castle overlooking the port of Alicante in Spain, which has endured many wars and has been rebuilt many times since the ninth century.