For of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven

For of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven presents child mortality as a grief common to all people, irrespective of wealth or class. Like the young middle-class women in the cortège, the little girl clutching the expensive bouquet of chrysanthemums wears a white dress almost certainly bought for such an occasion. Her unhealthy pallor suggests that Death may still be lurking in the wings. By contrast, the shabby sons and daughters of the local fishing folk are ruddy-cheeked and sturdy, reflecting their healthier outdoor life.

The title of this scene of a child’s funeral procession comes from the Gospel of Matthew (19: 14): ‘But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’

Based in Newlyn, Cornwall, Frank Bramley combined social realism with the new practice of painting out of doors. Bramley mines the Victorian fondness for heart-rending sentimentalism and fixation with social class, but presents his masterpiece in the naturalist mode then fashionable in European painting.

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