A condensed excerpt from The Royal Academy Pre-Raphaelite and Other Masters, by Judith Collins

Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) was born in Cookham, Berkshire, the son of a piano teacher and church organist. He recognised early in his career that he painted two kinds of picture - landscapes and portraits rendered in a detailed and realistic manner, and imaginative paintings, in which the content often dictated the form.

We know his feelings about his work from his unfinished autobiography, over three million poetic and muddled words held in the Tate Archive, whcih are a testament to his inner vision. His fertile imagination fused the Bible stories he knew well with the topography of his village to produce a series of paintings that portrayed Cookham and its inhabitants as a sacred paradise, a heaven on earth.

From Up The Rise (1937/56) is part of the projected Marriage at Cana theme in Spencer's Church-House project. Villagers from Cookham Rise have stopped on the edge of Cookham Moor before going on as guests to the wedding feast at Cana, which is why they are wearing their Sunday best clothes. They gaze out of the picture in the direction of their travel and share an intensity of purpose and focus. They are about to witness the first miracle of Christ enacted in their beloved village.