In his own lifetime, William Collins was regarded as one of the most important artists of his generation. Now he is generally remembered only as the father of the novelist Wilkie Collins. However, he made significant contributions to the development of landscape painting, the way in which children were portrayed, and, in the period immediately before the appearance of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, to religious art. My research aims to explore these contributions in the context of the concepts of Natural Piety and Sentiment, as those concepts evolved in society and culture during the first half of the nineteenth century. I would welcome anyone who has a painting by him getting in touch with me.