Orchardson took more than a passing interest in the subject of nuns. In 1866 he exhibited at the Royal Academy The Story of a Life (private collection), a scene set 'in the interior of a convent, where a nun with a pale and saddened countenance appears to excite the sympathy of a number of young novitiates by the story of her life.' (Art Journal, 1870, p.234). He later returned to the theme in the present work and a smaller picture entitled Resignation (Sir Brinsley Ford collection; photo in Witt Library), which shows two half-length figures of nuns in profile to left. Our picture, which was missing when the Orchardson exhibition took place in 1972 although it was recorded in the catalogue of the artist's studio sale, held at Christie's in May 1910, is clearly related to Resignation, and probably more or less contemporary. Resignation may be the picture called Nuns that Orchardson exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1884, but its dark tonality suggests that it dates from a few years earlier (see Orchardson Exhibition, 1972, cat., under no.34).

Orchardson's interest in the subject of nuns probably owed something to his admiration for Millais, who had treated it so memorably in his Vale of Rest of 1859 (Tate Gallery). The theme also lent itself to his strong preference for restricted colour schemes.