Study for 'Let the People Praise Thee', Christ's Hospital mural, 1914

Sir Frank Brangwyn RA (1867 - 1956)

RA Collection: Art

A squared-up drawing for Let the People Praise Thee, O God: Let All the People PraiseThee one of a set of sixteen scenes painted in egg tempera on panel that Brangwyn painted for the chapel of Christ's Hospital School, near Horsham, West Sussex (1913-1923; in situ). Flanking the nave of the chapel, the panels depict the lives of Early Christian saints, the early printing and dissemination of the Bible as well as this contemporary scene of choirboys and children singing hymns in an East London street.

The composition is frieze-like with figures placed very close to the front of the pictorial space. An old man plays piano in the centre, viewed from the side, with a small dog and his feet, flanked by two standing choristers. To either side, an unruly crowd of children and other figures are gathered.