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''The Kensingtons at Laventie'' is a large oil painting on glass by Eric Kennington completed in 1915 that depicts a First World War platoon of British troops. The group depicted was Kennington's own infantry platoon, Platoon No 7, C Company, the 13th (Kensington) Battalion London Regiment, who were commonly known as the Kensingtons. Kennington completed the painting having been invalided out of the British Army after being wounded on the Western Front. When first displayed the painting had a large impact and hastened the establishment of an official British scheme for war artists. The painting is one of the most iconic images of the First World War and is held by the Imperial War Museum. ==Background== At the start of World War I, Kennington enlisted with the 13th (Kensington) Battalion London Regiment, as their recruiting office was the nearest one to his London studio. He fought on the Western Front, but was wounded in January 1915 and was fortunate not to lose a foot due to a subsequent infection. He spent four months in hospital before being discharged as unfit in June 1915. After his convalescence, he spent six months painting ''The Kensingtons at Laventie''. The painting is a group portrait of his own infantry platoon, Platoon No 7, C Company and Kennington went to great lengths to contact his former comrades and sketch them while preparing the painting. Kennington supplied extensive notes that identified each individual in the painting and explained the situation depicted. The Kensingtons spent the extremely cold winter of 1914 in the front-line trenches forward of the village of Laventie in the Pas-de-Calais. Their trenches were poorly built and frequently under artillery fire. The painting depicts a moment when the platoon, having spent four days and nights in a forward fire trench, have made their way through a flooded communications trench to the ruined village of Laventie. The men are waiting for the order to 'fall in' for the five mile march to an overnight billet outside of shelling range. The men depicted are, from left to right, * Private H Bristol, wearing the red scarf, * Private A McCafferty. One of the two rifles on his back belonged to a Private Perry who had been killed by a sniper whilst beside McCafferty in a trench at La Rue Tilleloy. A German Pickelhaube helmet is attached to his belt. * Kennington is third from the left, wearing a balaclava, * Private W Harvey, * Private P A Guy, nicknamed 'Good Little Guy', * Lance-Corporal H 'Tug' Wilson, wearing a balaclava and with his fork and spoon tucked into his puttee. * Private M Slade, standing with both hands on his rifle, * Corporal J Kealey, * The figure on the ground in the forefront of the painting is Private Todd, an under-age soldier who Kennington wrote was "exhausted by continual service, hard work, lack of sleep, long hours of 'standing to' and observing". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Kensingtons at Laventie」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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