Artwork information

Margaret Dicksee was the sister of the prominent Victorian painter Sir Frank Dicksee. This painting, which appeared at the Royal Academy in 1901, contributes to a well-established historical genre - the depiction of an episode from the boyhood of a famous figure. Here it is the talented son of a provincial innkeeper who is the purported subject of the painting, but the work itself serves as a promotion of the actual artist's skills (in this instance a woman).