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 the sketch would slightly predate this. 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.