Like most artists, in his early years Moore studied the art of the past in search of inspiration. One of the books that most influenced him as a student was Roger Fry’s Vision and Design (1921). Fry (1866-1934), a respected art critic, was a champion of so-called ‘primitive’ art and of artists who challenged academic canons, such as the Spanish painter El Greco (Domenico Theotokopuli, 1541-1614).

Although, as the title suggests, this drawing is not a copy of an actual painting, it has clear affinities with The Opening of the Fifth Seal (1608-14), which Fry illustrated in his essay on El Greco in Vision and Design. Throughout his career Moore found inspiration in art publications. The difference between Moore’s subdued colours and El Greco’s famed chromatic exuberance can be explained by the fact that in the 1920s artworks were generally reproduced in black and white.