Lot 1620
‡SIR STANLEY SPENCER, CBE, RA (1891-1959)
RENDING THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE IN TWAIN, 1920-1921
Oil and pencil on paper
25 x 22cm.
* Executed in 1920-1921 (a later pencil inscription on the backboard states `Dated by Gilbert Spencer at gallery opening, Cookham`), the subject relates to the passage in St. Mark's gospel, Chapter 15, vs.37-38: "And Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom." This is apparently a study for a large Crucifixion picture which Spencer never brought to fruition, although a further study for the subject from 1921 is in Aberdeen Art Gallery
Provenance: London, Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd; and Tooth Paintings; London, Anthony d'Offay, 1979
Exhibited: London, The Royal Academy, Stanley Spencer Exhibition, 1980, no.66, illustrated in the catalogue
