'Study of the Maid for 'King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid'', Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt

Artwork details

Artist

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt (1833‑1898)

Title

Study of the Maid for 'King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid'

Date 1883

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 302 x 191 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Purchased 1963

Reference

T00565

Not on display

Display caption

Burne-Jones was perhaps most famous during his lifetime for the painting 'King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid' (on display in Room 9). It was first exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1884, and was subsequently included in the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where it established the artist's reputation among his European contemporaries. He worked on the composition from the late 1870s, making academic sketches of the figures from nude models. As well as the form of the crown held by the King, he was particularly attentive to the details of the drapery worn by the Beggar Maid, seeking to suggest her poverty without it seeming too 'unappetizing'.

September 2004