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Commentary by Hilary Morgan

This study relates to the 'Rock of Doom' or possibly to the 'Finding of Medusa' in the Perseus Series, and probably dates from the later stages of work on the project in the mid 1880s. It clearly shows Burne-Jones's practice of designing accessories for a painting to lift it out of association with any historical period, and yet give it an air of plausibility. As the artist wrote:

One of the hardest things in the world is to determine how much realism is allowable in any particular picture .... For instance, I want a shield, or a crown or a pair of wings or what not, to look real. Well, I make what I want or a model of it, and then make studies from that. So that what eventually gets onto the canvas is a reflection of a reflection of something purely imaginary.' [Burne-Jones, 1904]

As an inspiration for the armour in the Perseus Series, Burne-Jones copied armour in the collection of Sir Coutts Lindsay. He also produced models of the armour in tin and cardboard. Photographs of Perseus's armour are included in Aymer Vallance's 'The Decorative art of Sir Edward Burne Jones Baronet' (The Art Journal). The present drawing was reproduced as a Hollyer photograph (Witt Library).

Bibliography

Burne-Jones, G. Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones. Volume 2. London: Macmillan, 1904.

Morgan, Hilary and Nahum, Peter. Burne-Jones, The Pre-Raphaelites and Their Century. London: Peter Nahum, 1989. Catalogue number 59.

The Art Journal Easter Number. London: Virtue, 1900.

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Last modified 5 June 2020