The Severe Steward, or Unfortunate Tenant

An unsympathetic land steward has his men drag a tenant farmer away from his pleading wife and children in this sentimental painting by English artist William Redmore Bigg. Bigg was a prolific painter whose art often centered on social issues, emphasizing the suffering of the poor and the importance of charity. In this piece, Bigg was illustrating the practice of arresting tenants for not being able to afford rent. Bigg’s original title for the piece was “The Rapacious Steward, or the Tenant Arrested.”