The painting is set in the home of a
Royalist during the English Civil War.
On the right you can see Parliamentarians (or
Roundheads). They have taken over the house and are questioning the young boy in the middle of the picture. They are asking
him the question, "and when did you last see you father?" The 'and' shows that the question has just been slipped in, onto
the end of another question. The men may be trying to trick the young boy.
Behind we can see a soldier gently holding the boy's crying sister. To the left of the painting we can see a woman, possibly the children's mother. The look on her face tells us that she fears what the boy is going to say - will he tell the Roundheads where his father is and maybe lead to his imprisonment or death?
This painting is oil on canvas and measures 131x251.5cm (51.5x99 inches).
Yeames said that he was inspired to paint this picture by his nephew, James Lambe Yeames, who was an innocent and honest boy. Yeames thought up a situation and time in Britain's history where a child's plain speaking might have a terrible outcome.
Yeames then used James as the model for the boy in the picture. James' sister also posed for the painting (she is the weeping girl).
As we've said earlier everyone likes a story, so that is one reason for the painting's popularity.
Another reason may be the suspense in the piece. This comes from the problem that the boy finds himself in: should he tell the truth as all good children should and possibly threaten his father, or should he lie and maybe save him. We can see the women and the weeping girl to the left - their faces tell us that something major may be about to happen.
Yeames drew some early sketches for this painting which show the characters a lot closer together. However, in the finished painting the figures are further apart. By spreading them out across the canvas, and by making the boy stand-alone, Yeames makes him seem more vulnerable. Therefore the spacing of the people increases the suspense in the painting.
The early drawings also show the soldier without his arm around the crying girl. This gesture, and the almost sympathetic expressions on the Roundheads' faces, is not what we might expect. We might expect to see violent, angry faces. If you remember the almost innocent question they are asking the boy you get a sense that they are trying to trick him, and are just waiting for him to say the wrong thing before they pounce.
When the painting was shown at the Royal Academy in 1878 some art critics were polite but not very enthusiastic. They thought that the painting, with the figures spread out in a straight line, was very simple.
Its real fame and popularity came later when the painting was used in school textbooks, particularly history books. It became so well known that in 1933 it was made into a waxwork at Madame Tussaud's in London.
Yeames was born in Russia in 1835 and had an unusual upbringing and education. When his father died in 1844 the family moved to Dresden, Germany so that Yeames would have a better education. They later moved to London in 1848 and then Italy in 1852 where Yeames studied with several leading artists and came into contact with many more.
Back in London in 1859 he continued his education and began to paint life subjects and Italian scenes. His 1863 Royal Academy picture, The meeting of Sir Thomas Moore with his daughter after his sentence to death, made him well known for painting 16th and 17th century historical scenes. Being involved in the St John's Wood Clique (or School) brought him greater fame and inspiration.