Le Morte d’Arthur captivated Edward Burne-Jones. His passion for all things Arthurian dated back to his days as an undergraduate at Oxford, when he and close friend William Morris would read the tales together. Burne-Jones painted Arthurian subjects several times in his career, including the famous The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon. Merlin was infatuated with Nimue. Unfortunately for…
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- Alexa Wilding, Annie Miller, Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal, Fanny Cornforth, Georgiana Burne-Jones, Jane Burden Morris, mary zambaco
What is the “Pre-Raphaelite Woman”?
Women are central figures in Pre-Raphaelite art and this has given us the concept of a “Pre-Raphaelite Woman”. I frequently see the term ‘Pre-Raphaelite’ in occasional news articles, usually describing an actress or singer with long curly hair. Florence Welch is often described as Pre-Raphaelite and it’s definitely a look she has embraced. But was there a unified ideal? If we…
- Charles Augustus Howell, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal, Georgiana Burne-Jones, John Ruskin, mary zambaco
The Worst Man in London
Seven years after her death, the coffin of Elizabeth Siddal was exhumed so that her husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, could publish the poetry he had buried with her. It was a secret act, yet eventually the deed came to be known and has added a macabre tinge to the tale of Elizabeth Siddal. Rossetti was not present when his…
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The Tale of Pygmalion
The tale of Pygmalion dates back to Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The paintings featured here are the second series painted by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones. Pygmalion is a sculptor who is disgusted by the behavior of local women, who are frivolous, shallow, and immoral. His decision to live a life of celibacy instead of choosing one of these women shows his level…