A few years ago I went to an exhibition about Charles Dickens at the Museum of London. The exhibition tried to depict something of the poverty and misery that

A few years ago I went to an exhibition about Charles Dickens at the Museum of London. The exhibition tried to depict something of the poverty and misery that was the daily experience of many people in the city at the time. One of the paintings on display was by the Victorian painter Arthur Boyd Hougton and called Itinerant Singers (painted 1860). The painting shows a family of beggars singing in the street while most of the public ignore them (not so different from today perhaps?) I suppose we read into these paintings what we want, but for me it is the look of despair in the faces of the family (especially the mother) that has always made me remember this painting. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LUIByNNCbOI/UWL76CayOjI/AAAAAAAAeM0/-zBWAsMI_ts/s1600/Arthur+Boyd+Houghton+-+Itinerant+Singers+ca.+1860.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LUIByNNCbOI/UWL76CayOjI/AAAAAAAAeM...