Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt

Love and the Pilgrim

1896–7

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In Tate Britain

Walk Through British Art: 1840

Free entry
Artist
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt 1833–1898
Medium
Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions
Support: 1575 x 3048 mm
frame: 2213 x 3697 x 180 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented by the Art Fund 1942
Reference
N05381

Display caption

This painting was the last major work that Burne-Jones completed. It was dedicated to his close friend, the poet Algernon Swinburne. The idea of the God of Love guiding a Pilgrim on his quest comes from The Romaunt of the Rose by the medieval poet Geoffrey Chaucer, a book that Burne-Jones had read while a student at Oxford and which influenced many of the works he produced in collaboration with William Morris. Love is presented both as a Christian angel and as Cupid, the classical god of love.

Gallery label, November 2016

Pre-Raphaelite

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