The group was founded by Johann Friedrich Overbeck and Franz Pforr who were later joined by Peter Von Cornelius. They were originally called the Brotherhood of St Luke (who is the patron saint of artists) but came to be known as the Nazarenes (i.e. inhabitants of Nazareth, Christ’s home town) because of their religious devotion.
The Nazarenes were known in England to William Dyce and Ford Madox Brown, who both reflected their ideas, and were part of the inspiration for the English Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood formed in 1848.