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Whaite was born in Manchester, and attended Manchester School of Art and Leigh's Academy in London. From 1851 he spent much time at Betws-y-coed, where he was encouraged by David Cox. He was on the periphery of the Pre-Raphaelite circle, and was praised by the critic John Ruskin in 1859. In 1862 he began a large painting called 'The Penitent's Vision', which he reworked on a theme from 'The Pilgrim's Progress', but this was rejected by the Royal Academy in 1865. In 1883 he cut the painting into four sections, of which this is one, adding the figure of the sleeping shepherd.