Although Staniland painted historical subjects with such titles as The Relief of Leyden 1574 (R.A. 1881) and Henry III of France and the Dutch Envoys (see Art Journal, 1884, facing p. 156), he is best known as a social realist who focused on three main areas: the plight of the London poor, shipwrecks and the lifeboat service, and the hardships of mining communities. Many of these subjects were conceived as illustrations, notably for the Graphic, which pioneered the field. By the mid-1870s many of its leading artists - Luke Fildes, Hubert von Herkomer, Charles Green and William Small - had ceased to be regular contributors, and Staniland, who had proved himself working for the Illustrated London News, particularly by reporting the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, was one of those brought in to fill the gap. The resulting designs were among the social-realist images which had such an impact on Van Gogh during his stay in England. Indeed turo, a hospital subject and a pit-head scene, are specifically mentioned in his correspondence (see English Influences on Vincent Van Gogh, Arts Council exh., 1974-5, cat. p.54).

Staniland exhibited widely in both oil and watercolour, supporting the Royal Academy, the British Institution, the Royal Society of British Artists and the New Watercolour Society, of which he was a member 1879-90 and where he exhibited a total of 62 works. The present example shows his skill as a watercolourist and is highly characteristic in subject. The setting seems to be a London City church. Note the contrast between the group of poor in the foreground and the smart hats in the pews