The original of this work, Newgate: The Exercise Yard, was drawn by Gustav Doré (1833-83) and published in the volume "London, a Pilgrimage" by Blanchard Jerrold (London, 1872). Van Gogh was a great admirer of the English engravings of that period in which social hardships were harshly but realistically featured.

Prisoners Exercising is one of the most striking copies of Van Gogh's career. The subject matter itself is of particular interest, given Vincent's own self-imposed internment. Dr. Jan Hulsker comments: "There is, however, considerable support for the view that an element of biographical association is to be found here. Can it really be that Prisoners' Round embodies an unspoken criticism of the deadly monotony of life at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole? Nobody can tell."²