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| 1879 Sir Edward Burne-Jones oil on canvas 50.2 x 36.8 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
Edward Burne-Jones became a founding member of William Morris’s decorative art firm in 1861, where he produced countless designs and illustrations for books, tapestries, ceramic tiles, mosaics and stained glass. In 1862, he travelled to Italy where he was introduced to Botticelli, whose formal patterning profoundly influenced his subsequent development as a painter. His typical subject matter derived from medieval and classical legends charged with symbolism. In fact, he was pre-eminent in the Aesthetic movement in England and the Symbolist movement in Europe. A defining characteristic of Burne-Jones as an artist was his wilful blurring of the boundaries between his painting and his decorative work.
1866-68 The Legend of St George and the Dragon series:
For more information on Burne-Jones see part 1, and for earlier works see parts 1 - 5 also.
This is part 6 of a 14-part series on the works of Edward Burne-Jones:
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| c1866-68 Study of a Female Figure, for "The Garland Weavers" black chalk and graphite on cream laid paper 46.2 x 30.2 cm Harvard Art Museums © President and Fellows of Harvard College |
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| c1866-70 Cassandra red chalk 35.6 x 28 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| 1866-77 The Mirror of Venus oil on canvas 120 x 200 cm Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon |
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| 1866-80 Portrait of a Young Girl graphite on paper 25.4 x 17.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| c1866 Sketch for an Illustration graphite on paper 9.8 x 15.2 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| 1866c Study for the head of Saint George black chalk on paper 20.4 x 17.3 cm (sheet) Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia |
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| 1867 Study for The Mirror Venus pencil, red and brown chalk 28.7 x 36.3 cm National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia |
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| 1867 The Garland watercolour and gouache, heightened with gum Arabic and with scratching out on paper 76.2 x 44.2 cm Private Collection |
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| 1866c Study of a Draped Female Figure for 'The Garland Weavers' graphite on paper 29.4 x 15.5 cm The Courtauld Gallery, London |
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| Princess Sabre, or The King's Daughter oil on canvas 107.2 x 61.5 cm Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
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| Princess Sabre, or The King's Daughter graphite on paper 35.2 x 19.7 cm The British Museum, London |
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| The Petition to the King oil on canvas Hanover College, Indiana |
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| The Petition to the King graphite on paper The British Museum, London |
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| The Princess Drawing the Lot Hanover College, Indiana |
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| The Princess Drawing the Lot graphite and black chalk The British Museum, London |
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| The Princess Sabra led to the Dragon oil on canvas 108 x 96.6 cm Private Collection |
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| The Fight: St George kills the Dragon oil on canvas 105.4 x 130.8 cm Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia |
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| The Fight: St George kills the Dragon graphite? on paper 35.1 x 41.6 cm The British Museum, London |
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| St. George and the Dragon watercolour and gouache on paper 62 x 48 cm William Morris Gallery, London |
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| St. George Killing the Dragon study graphite on paper |
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| The Princess tied to a Tree graphite on paper 35.1 x 29.8 cm The British Museum, London |
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| The Princess tied to a Tree oil on canvas 105 x 91 cm Forbes Collection, New York |
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| c1866 Study for The Hours graphite on paper 47.8 x 26.4 cm Tate, London |
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| 1882 The Hours oil on canvas 118.7 x 227.8 cm Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, UK |
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| 1868 Green Summer oil on canvas Private Collection |
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| 1868 Laus Veneris oil on canvas 122 x 183 cm Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK |
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| 1868 Seraph (study for 'Chant d'Amour') red chalk on cream laid paper 34 x 23.5 cm Aberystwyth University School of Art Museum and Galleries, Wales, UK |
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| 1868 Sibylla Delphica oil on canvas 152.8 x 60.3 cm Manchester Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1868 Woman's Head (study for 'Le Chant d'Amour') red chalk on cream laid paper 31 x 23.5 cm Aberystwyth University School of Art Museum and Galleries, Wales, UK |
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| 1868-77 The Love Song (Le Chant d'Amour) oil on canvas 114.3 x 155.9 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| 1868-77 The Love Song (Le Chant d'Amour) study for the head graphite on paper 27.9 x 21.6 cm |
c1868-1878 Pygmalion and the Image
Burne-Jones made his first designs for the story of Pygmalion and the Image in 1867. These were part of a group intended to illustrate a lavish edition of William Morris's poem 'The Earthly Paradise'. The myth, which Morris adapted from Ovid, concerns a sculptor whose love for one of his own creations is the means of its coming to life. For his paintings, Burne-Jones compressed the story into four scenes, working from 1868 simultaneously on two versions of the series (the set he exhibited in 1879 is in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery). This drawing (1868c Study) is a preliminary study for the third scene, in which the goddess Venus animates the statue.
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| 1868-78 Pygmalion and the Image - The Soul Attains oil 97.5 x 74.9 cm Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK |
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| c1868 Study of the Image for ‘The Godhead Fires’ in the ‘Pygmalion and the Image’ Series graphite on paper 26.5 x 14.9 cm Tate, London |
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| 1870 Head of Venus in The Godhead Fires graphite on paper Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1878 Pygmalion and the Image 'The Godhead Fires' oil on canvas 97.5 x 74.9 cm Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK |
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| (Date not found) Pygmalion and the Image - The Hand Refrains oil on canvas Private Collection |
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| 1869 Hymenaeus oil over gold leaf on panel 32.2 x 21 cm © Delaware Art Museum |
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| 1869-70 The Seasons, Autumn |
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| 1869-70 The Seasons, Spring |
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| 1869-70 The Seasons, Summer |
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| 1869-70 The Seasons, Winter |
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| 1869-73 The Garden of the Hesperides watercolour and gouache on paper 119 x 98 cm Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany |
1869-98 The Prioress's Tale
This painting tells the story of a seven-year old boy whose throat was cut for singing a Christian song in a Jewish city in Asia, but miraculously continued to sing when the Virgin Mary placed grain in his mouth. He died soon afterwards and was buried as a martyr. The flower symbolism of the white lily represents purity, that of the red poppy consolation, the dwarf sunflower adoration and the wallflower fidelity in adversity.
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| 1869-98 The Prioress's Tale watercolour and gouache on paper mounted on linen 103.5 x 62.8 cm Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE |
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| 1870 Hesperus, Evening Star watercolour, bodycolour and gum arabic, on paper 79.3 x 56.5 cm |
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| 1870 Head of a Young Woman graphite on cream wove paper 22.7 x 20.9 cm Harvard Art Museums © President and Fellows of Harvard College |
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| 1870 Head of a Young Woman graphite on white wove paper 27.8 x 21.9 cm Harvard Art Museums © President and Fellows of Harvard College |
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| 1870 Head study of Maria Zambaco for Nimue graphite on paper 20.3 x 17.2 cm |
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| 1870 Morning (from "Night and Morning") watercolour, gouache and metallic paint on white paper mounted on very fine canvas originally attached to wooden panel 121.7 x 45.5 cm Harvard Art Museums © President and Fellows of Harvard College |
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| 1870 Night (from "Night and Morning") watercolour, and gouache on white paper mounted on very fine canvas 122.2 x 45.7 cm Harvard Art Museums © President and Fellows of Harvard College |
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| 1870 Night watercolour 79 x 56 cm Tate, London |
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| 1870 Portrait of Maria Zambaco gouache 76.3 x 55 cm Clemens-Sels-Museum, Neuss |
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| 1870 Study of a Woman’s Head graphite on paper 20.3 x 18.4 cm Tate, London |
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| 1870-75 The Garden Court graphite and watercolour, heightened with white gouache on white wove paper 32.3 x 60.2 cm The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
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| 1870-98 Saint Nicholas oil on canvas 140.4 x 55.6 cm Tameside Museums and Galleries Service: The Astley Cheetham Art Collection, UK |
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| 1871c Study for Merlin and Nimue in "The Beguiling of Merlin" black and white chalk on brown paper laid down on linen 70.3 x 52 cm Harvard Art Museums © President and Fellows of Harvard College |
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| 1872-73 The Beguiling of Merlin oil on canvas 186 x 111 cm Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Merseyside, UK |
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| c1872-77 Study for ‘The Beguiling of Merlin’ charcoal graphite on paper 21.2 x 23.5 cm Tate, London |
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| c1872-77 Three Studies for ‘The Beguiling of Merlin’ graphite on paper 32.3 x 22.2 cm Tate, London (on loan from Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, France) |
