Drawing for Right Panel of ‘Resurrection: Rejoicing’ 1944

Curator: This delicate pencil drawing, held here at the Tate, is Sir Stanley Spencer's study for the right panel of his unrealized 'Resurrection: Rejoicing.' Editor: It’s a rather quiet rejoicing, wouldn't you say? Ghostly figures seem to emerge rather than celebrate. Curator: Indeed. Spencer often intertwined the mundane with the spiritual. The drawing, though preliminary, captures the essence of his vision: resurrection as an intimate, almost domestic event. Editor: I see the Great War's impact. It's in the faces, the somber arrangement of figures in what seems like a tight, confined space. Resurrection, perhaps, as a collective memory. Curator: Perhaps. Spencer was deeply affected by his time as a medical orderly in the war. His vision transforms a cemetery into a garden. Editor: So, from death springs life. Yet, these aren't triumphant figures; they're contemplative, emerging from the earth, or maybe just their thoughts. Curator: A potent vision, then. Editor: Absolutely. It’s a reminder that even in rejoicing, shadows of the past linger.