The mounted figure in this watercolour by Frank Brangwyn is very close to a similar figure (in reverse) in the centre of a procession in the print ‘Return from a Raid’ (Retour d’un Razzia), etching on copper 12 x 13 3/4 in. 30.4 x 35 cm. executed in 1910 (Gaunt: Etchings of Brangwyn. 170). According to Gaunt the plate was etched from a group of Nativity figures set up on a balcony at Mola (Italy) arranged against the background hills. However, the inscription below this watercolour specifically refers to Taormina, Sicily, where it is known that Brangwyn made at least two watercolours of the same title in 1911. One of these, illustrated in Frank Brangwyn – His Work (2 illustrative folios published by E. d’Alignan and P. Turpin) pl. 37, shows a procession of mounted figures and foot men but differently arranged from W155 and from the etching.
