Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt

Fair Rosamund and Queen Eleanor

1862

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

License this image

Not on display
Artist
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt 1833–1898
Medium
Ink, watercolour, gouache and gum on paper
Dimensions
Support: 260 x 273 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented by J.R. Holliday through the Art Fund 1923
Reference
N03822

Display caption

Burne-Jones treated the story of Fair Rosamund several times in the early 1860s. According to legend, King Henry II created a hidden chamber for his mistress, Rosamund, at the centre of an elaborate maze. There she was discovered and murdered by her rival, Queen Eleanor. While he was a student at Oxford, Burne-Jones visited Godstowe, the presumed site of Rosamund's grave. But a fresh impetus for his group of pictures came from Swinburne's verse drama of 1860, which enacts the confrontation of Rosamund and the Queen. The circular mirror is derived from one made by Burne-Jones's father, but ultimately from that in Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini marriage portrait in the National Gallery.

Gallery label, August 2004

Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.

Pre-Raphaelite

Explore

You might like

Left Right
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘The Finding of Medusa; The Death of Medusa (The Birth of Pegasus and Chrysaor); Perseus Pursued by the Gorgons’ 1875–6

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt The Finding of Medusa; The Death of Medusa (The Birth of Pegasus and Chrysaor); Perseus Pursued by the Gorgons

1875–6
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Sidonia von Bork 1560’ 1860

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Sidonia von Bork 1560

1860
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Clara von Bork 1560’ 1860

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Clara von Bork 1560

1860
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Atlas Turned to Stone; The Rock of Doom and the Doom Fulfilled; The Court of Phineas; The Baleful Head’ 1875–6

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Atlas Turned to Stone; The Rock of Doom and the Doom Fulfilled; The Court of Phineas; The Baleful Head

1875–6
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Clerk Saunders’ 1861

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Clerk Saunders

1861
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Woman in an Interior’ c.1861

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Woman in an Interior

c.1861
Ford Madox Brown, ‘King René‘s Honeymoon’ 1864

Ford Madox Brown King René‘s Honeymoon

1864
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Sigurd the Crusader, engraved by the Dalziel Brothers’ published 1862

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Sigurd the Crusader, engraved by the Dalziel Brothers

published 1862
View by appointment
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Study of the Head and Shoulders of a Woman for ‘The Passing of Venus’’ c.1875

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Study of the Head and Shoulders of a Woman for ‘The Passing of Venus’

c.1875
View by appointment
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Fountain of Youth’ 1873–81

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Fountain of Youth

1873–81
Simeon Solomon, ‘Dante’s First Meeting with Beatrice’ 1859–63

Simeon Solomon Dante’s First Meeting with Beatrice

1859–63
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Lovers in a Garden’ ?1863

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Lovers in a Garden

?1863
View by appointment
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘St Luke’ 1872

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt St Luke

1872
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Composition Study for ‘Ezekiel and the Boiling Pot’’ c.1860

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Composition Study for ‘Ezekiel and the Boiling Pot’

c.1860
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ‘Figure of a Queen’ 1861

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt Figure of a Queen

1861
View by appointment