This drawing relates to a number of paintings Minton made prior to his death in January 1957. At that time he was struggling with alcoholism, suffering from peripheral neuritis, and depressed by the loss of a lover to another man. Death was very much on his mind; he had witnessed a fatal car accident in Spain, and had been devastated by the death two years earlier of the 24 year old actor James Dean, whom he idolised. When Minton died, there was a painting of a car crash on his easel.

There were also several small paintings in the studio on a deathbed theme. The previous year Minton had designed two plays by Ronald Duncan for the Royal Court Theatre, 'The Death of Satan' and 'Don Juan', and it is possible that he was concerned with how the idea of the dying libertine's retribution related to himself.

Only days before he died he gave an allegorical painting to a young woman friend: in the foreground lies a naked figure resembling Minton's own elongated body, seated by him is a young man wearing skull-cap and glasses, and behind them stands a mysterious, black-cloaked figure. It is difficult not to presume that the figure on the bed is Minton himself, the seated man a learned doctor and the shadowy figure in the background, Death. The subject of this drawing is evidently the same, the only difference being that the seated figure is portrayed more as a grieving friend than a doctor, but here, as in the painting, it seems clear that Minton is imagining his own imminent death.

Private collection, UK