Frank Moss Bennett was born in Liverpool in 1874. While an art student, he won a travelling scholarship from the Royal Academy Schools and at the age of twenty-four he first exhibited at the Royal Academy itself. Later he also showed his works at the Paris Salon. His images were reproduced occasionally in contemporary calendars. He is known best for his Elizabethan and historical subjects, but he also painted genre scenes, portraits and worked as an illustrator. "Pageant of Folly and Repentance" is typical of the Victorian interest in presenting moralizing themes set in historical contexts.