Figure Studies for 'Christians and Christians'

This is a study for Martineau's unfinished oil painting 'Christians and Christians', also in the Walker Art Gallery's collection (WAG 1612). Martineau was working on the oil painting when he died in 1869, and this sketch probably precedes it by a few years as it differs in significant ways from the oil painting, and from other preparatory sketches. The subject of the sketches and the painting is thought to be the expulsion of the Jews from England in the 13th century. Martineau was probably influenced by his teacher and friend William Holman Hunt (1827 - 1910) in the subject, scale and even the intended framing of the painting.