Signed lower right: “Herbert Barnett”. From the estate of the artist. Inscribed verso: “The Wounded Knight/ Herbert Barnett/ 1947”.

The subject of The Wounded Knight is a small marionette of a knight which hung in the Barnett’s home. The hinged helmet, sword, shield, and breastplate were hammered tin, the clothing included lace, and the articulated body was made of wood. The artist deployed the marionette in a slumped posture, whence the title. The painting’s high contrast, intense colors, and abstract composition relate this work to the larger hen paintings of 1947-1948 and reflect the artist’s admiration of Rouault.