A painting in an elongated horizontal rectangle shape, depicting a wilderness scene at sunset with four barely discernible human figures, all bowed with sorrow. The figure in the foreground, a little to the left of center, holds her hands to her face. At the center of the painting, another figure bends down to the ground. Just beyond the bending figure, the viewer sees the backs of the other two figures, wearing white head coverings and holding palm fronds. There are palm fronds on the ground. In the distance at the right is a cityscape. According to the text on the museum’s object page for the work: “In this brooding, melancholy work, a Christian pilgrim pauses while gathering palm branches on the way to Jerusalem, overcome with grief. Her recollection is of Christ’s joyous entry into Jerusalem on a path strewn with palms, just days before his betrayal, arrest and execution in c. 30/33 CE. Reviewing this work in 1871, the London Times critic noted how: ‘the execution is as careful and complete as the conception is gravely pathetic. When we remember the many sensational pictures of similar subjects by men, we feel that hearty recognition is due to the earnest and sympathetic spirit with which Miss Courtauld has conceived and treated her subject,’” The painting’s frame is timber and gold leaf. The title appears in black capital letters in a small gold leaf plaque at the bottom center of the frame.

Memories of the First #PalmSunday, 1871, by #EdithCourtauld ( #EdithArendrup; British, 1846-1934). Held by the National Gallery of Victoria, www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/coll... #artherstory #womenartists