John Hobday, who ran the Dr. Barnado's Children's Home in Toronto, commissioned the present work from Stanley Spencer in 1934. By requesting a Crucifixion with the backdrop of a country village, he influenced the composition as Spencer was able to transpose the figure of the scarecrow from his earlier painting Scarecrow, Cookham (1934) straight into the figure of Christ on the Cross. The view behind the scarecrow is that over the Thames to Cliveden, as seen from the garden of Rowborough, a house just off the road between Cookham Moor and Winter Hill. The view behind the figure of Christ however is of Cookham and Cliveden Woods. The benefit of repeating the scarecrow composition not only speeded up the commission, but appealed to Hobday who obviously admired the earlier painting and had it in mind when he requested his picture. Spencer wrote to Hobday on 2 Jan. 1936 'Your letter interested me especially as you had thought that my 'Scarecrow' picture suggested a Crucifixion'.

The present work is the second of three Crucifixion paintings by the artist: the first from 1921 (Aberdeen Art Gallery) was painted while staying with Muirhead Bone in Steep and forms the basis of a larger work which was never undertaken; the third was commissioned by Jack Martineau, the Master of the Brewers Company for the Chapel of Aldenham School in 1958 (Private Collection).