Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Gainsborough's only original religious composition, this work was painted around 1788. Mother and son are shown trudging into the dark wilderness. Following the description given in Genesis XXI, 9-15 Hagar carries the precious water bottle on her shoulder. With its rich, dark tonalities, this picture is an essay in the style of the seventeenth-century Spanish painter Murillo, who was a powerful influence on Gainsborough in the 1780s.