Washing Peter's Feet

Washing Peter’s Feet 1922, oil on panel by Stanley Spencer (1891–1959).

In this composition with 13 figures, Christ and his disciples prepare for the last supper. The table, which stands horizontally across the full width of the composition, is being set with bowls of bread by some whilst others bring balloon-back chairs to sit beside it. In the foreground one of the disciples sits upon the ground removing his sandals. To his left kneels Christ  wringing out a white cloth, a fringed towel laid across his knees as he washes Peter's feet. In lower left corner another disciple removes his sandals, his features viewed in profile as he does so. Spencer has also included incongruous everyday details in this painting including balloon-back chairs from Spencer’s family home, Fernlea, Cookham, to give a domestic atmosphere.

Spencer returned to religious subjects for his paintings after the First World War and was inspired by his favourite Italian religious painters: Giotto, Masaccio and Fra Angelico. The painting illustrates John Chapter XIII verses 1-13. It is one from a set of four paintings: The Robing of Christ, The Disrobing of Christ, and The Last Supper. These were intended as panels beneath Spencer’s large altar painting The Betrayal, now at the Ulster Museum, Belfast. The set were originally intended for Sir Henry Slesser’s private oratory in his house near Cookham but were too large and later sold.