Herbert was born in Maldon in Essex and attended the Royal Academy Schools. He began by painting portraits and romanticised subjects from Italian history but in the mid-1830s became influenced by the art of the Nazarene painters. Through the architect and designer A. W. N. Pugin, Herbert converted to Catholicism around 1840. His conversion to Roman Catholicism had a marked influence on his art. He was Master of the Government Schools of Design and was commissioned to paint frescoes for the new Houses of Parliament. Herbert exhibited over a hundred paintings at the RA between 1830 and 1889.