In Tate Britain
- Artist
- Maria Spilsbury 1777–c.1823
- Medium
- Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- Support: 762 × 914 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Presented by Miss Ruth Young 1937
- Reference
- N04880
Display caption
A young woman in white is shown teaching the children gathered around her. One boy sits absorbed in reading A Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan. The Christian message of this book is reinforced by the church seen in the distance. Maria Spilsbury often portrayed women in such nurturing roles, reflecting the importance of women educators at this time. Women were especially active in the growing Sunday School movement, which aimed to educate working-class children on Sundays, their one day off. Spilsbury also painted a larger version of this picture (with more overt Christian symbolism) and probably exhibited one of these at the Royal Academy in 1804. At that time, her work was reputedly so popular that carriages would queue outside her London studio.
Gallery label, October 2023
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