Robert includes a self-portrait of himself at the rear of this crowded chapel. He is a late comer to a community thrown together by chance but sharing a common purpose. The converging lines of the pews reveal that this otherwise dark interior is in fact a church. The presence of the I-V pole, looking like a cross, suggests this chapel is located in a hospital and that the people present are either patients or family members of patients. The way the chapel divides and corrals the congregation into smaller groups is reminiscent of a hospital waiting room, as if those present are waiting for their number to be called. The finished painting, showing a single patient in a dark interior illuminated by three stained glass windows, has a more hopeful aspect.
Study for Hospital Chapel