Religious Scene

This image is from a photograph found in one of Richard's photo albums.

On the back he wrote, " "My 1st prize at the Slade School 1925".  It is probably one of Richard's submissions to the Slade Sketch Club competitions. Slade students were encouraged to enter works each month in response to a theme set by Slade staff. Although it is called a "sketch" club, most submissions seem to have been done in oils.

". . . Once a month, this club held a show of compositions painted out of school. A criticism was given by Professor Tonks or another instructor and about three prizes of a guinea each were awarded, I contributed regularly to these showings and usually attempted to do one of the compositions set, such as “The Flood”, The Last Supper” etc." 

". . . During my last term I was awarded a prize every month which was very gratifying, I was astonished to hear many years later that two very distinguished fellow students still remember these individual works."

This could be depicting the temptation of St Anthony. However it’s unclear what the temptation might be. Richard was doing a lot of wood carving at this time round at the studio of his friend, the sculptor ‘Micky’ Bickerdike, and the painting of the figure in the picture is extremely solid and sculptural.