Stanley Spencer was an English painter known for his paintings depicting biblical scenes occurring as if in Cookham, the small village beside the River Thames where he was born and spent much of his life. He was skilled at organizing multi-figure compositions such as in his large paintings for the Sandham Memorial Chapel and the Shipbuilding on the Clyde series His works often express his fervent if unconventional Christian faith

Spencer’s early work is regarded as a synthesis of French Post-Impressionism, exemplified for instance by Paul Gauguin, plus early Italian painting typified by Giotto. In later life, Spencer remained an independent artist and did not join any of the artistic movements of the period