Garden of the Slothful

As a slothful couple yawn and lie in bed, their livestock roams free among the thistles and thieves steal grapes from their vines, visible through a broken stone wall. A child in red holds up a white flower, as if pleading with the lazy couple in the upper storey. The subject of this work is taken from the Bible: 'I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down’ (Proverbs 24:30-31).

Margaret Gere exhibited this work in 1905 at the Society for Painters in Tempera. Art critic and fellow exhibitor Roger Fry called it ‘delightful’ in his review of the exhibition. Christiana Herringham clearly agreed as she added it to her collection of works by female contemporaries, whom she supported by acting as their patron.

Presented to Bedford College by Sir Wilmot Herringham, 1918. Acquired on the merger with Bedford College, 1985.