Sketch for 'The raising of Lazarus'

In 1929 Walter Sickert was given a life-size lay figure, alleged to have once belonged to William Hogarth, and the sight of it being delivered to his studio inspired him to paint three works based on the event which he reinterpreted as the raising of Lazarus.

Eager to record the scene before it faded in his mind, Sickert painted the first of the three works directly onto the wallpaper of his studio wall; this hastily painted version is now in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia. In fact, Sickert was so inspired by the event he had it re-enacted and professionally photographed with himself posed as Christ, and Cecily Hey as Lazarus' sister.

'Sketch for 'The raising of Lazarus'' is the second, and much smaller study, and was painted by Sickert as a rehearsal for the final version which is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.