HUMANITY AND OUR HOME

And when did you last see your father? (1878), William Frederick Yeames

This piece represents a Roundhead (Parliamentarian) interrogation of a household that was aligned to the Cavalier (Royal) forces during the English Civil War.  This has a number of connotations – does the boy lie or tell the truth?  Does he condemn his father?  If he lies, does he put the rest of the family at risk? It feels like a “no-win” situation, or at least, a conversation laced with traps.