Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ARA, RWS,
 
British 1833-1898-
 
A Nude...

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ARA, RWS,

British 1833-1898-

A Nude male, full-length, facing left for the Altar of Hymen in the last of the Pygmalion series;

black chalk on paper, 25.8 x 19 cm.

Provenance: Private Collection, UK.

Note: The present work will be included in the online Burne-Jones Catalogue raisonné and will be sold with a certificate of authenticity from The Burne-Jones Catalogue Raisonné Foundation.

This chalk sketch is an early preparatory study of Pygmalion for Burne-Joness finished watercolour entitled 'The Altar of Hymen', 1874 (sold at Christie's, London, 17 June 2014, lot 5). Pygmalion is here shown full-length with his arms and legs cropped. The story around 'The Altar of Hymen' relates to the moment in which the sculptor Pygmalion is seen embracing his bride Galatea in the Temple of Venus. In the finished picture, the goddess Venus sits to the right, her son Cupid standing between her knees, while to the left is a small altar on which leaves, a votive offering, are consumed by flames. In 1867 Burne-Jones made a number of illustrations for William Morris's poem 'Pygmalion and the Image', which the present study and finished work were evidently based on. Burne-Jones had a deep concern for technical perfection in his final compositions as well as in his drawing, and indeed his drawings and sketches were even sought after during his life time. By the late 1860s, his chalk drawings tended to be broad and tonal in style, making use of the rough grain in the paper, and this technique is evident in the present work where the chalk has been drawn and smudged over the lines of the laid paper.A second finished version of the composition was sold at Christies, London, 12 December 2013, lot 4.