St Paul's Cross was an open air pulpit outside St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London: not the present Cathedral, which was built by Sir Christopher Wren after the Fire of London in 1666, but Old St Paul's, which had stood on the same site since the 12th century. During the sixteenth century, when religion and politics frequently collided, Paul's Cross was an important place for the dissemination of ideas, both religious and political. The painting shows the young king Edward VI, seated on a specially-constructed dais and throne, and surrounded by his court, including a page in the foreground, who carries the king's prayerbook on a velvet cushion.

The young king is listening very intently to Bishop Latimer, who was, like the king, a leading representative of the Reform party in the church, sometimes called the Conscience of the English Reformation. He fearlessly denounced, not only the Catholic party, but also the great Protestant nobles of Edward's own court who had profited by the change of religion and the oppressions suffered by the poor.

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Latimer preaches before Edward VI at St Paul's Cross

The original plan for the East Corridor, as set out by the Fine Arts Commissioners in 1847, was quite different from what we have today. It was to have contained such subjects as A Druidical Sacrifice and The Phoenicians in Cornwall on the one hand, with The Emancipation of Negro Slaves on the other. This ill-assorted scheme was abandoned early on, but it was not until 1907 that the new Liberal Government set up a committee for completing the decoration of the Palace of Westminster.