Drawing of the Day: Simeon Solomon's "In the Temple of Venus," 1865

In the Temple of Venus
Simeon Solomon, c. 1865
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A head-and-shoulders portrait, this watercolor of a woman with ginger hair in a green gown immediately puts one in mind of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, however, the background of the piece with its loosely-drawn statuette and classical columns, is a far cry from the almost-photographic detail inherent in the work of Pre-Raphaelite artists.

This is the work of Simeon Solomon (1840-1905).  Solomon had long bemoaned that he never had been given a classical education and had no understanding of Latin and Greek.  He formed close friendships with the poet Algernon Swinburne, the Eton schoolmaster Oscar Browning, and the Oxford don Walter Pater, the great critic of the Italian Renaissance--thereby giving himself a chance to become deeply familiar with classical subjects.  

Simeon titled this piece, "In the Temple of Venus."  It's part of a series he painted during the middle part if the 1860s which subtly focussed on gay and lesbian themes, a study for which there was no name at the time.  

Gifts of Grandeur: Edward Burne-Jones' Marriage Piano, 1860

"[I] lived inside the pictures and from the inside of them looked out upon a world less real than they."

--Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, in a letter to May Gaskell

Piano
Frederick Priestly, 1860
Painted panels by Edward Burne-Jones
This and all related images courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum

The name Edward Burne-Jones immediately puts one in mind of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and theatrical images of languid, titian-haired beauties, rich turquoise and emerald hues and deceptively sparkling waters.  Burne-Jones was one of the most influential of the Brotherhood, the conductor of a beautiful orchestra, if you will.

Georgiana Burne-Jones

And, so, such an artist should have a lovely instrument.  This piano, made in 1860, is the work of Frederick Priestley, an otherwise, as the V&A puts it, unknown piano maker.  The piano was presented as a wedding gift to Edward Burne-Jones and Georgiana "Georgie" MacDonald in 1860. 

Burne-Jones decorated the otherwise modest and plain instrument's case of American oak with a scene from the Medieval Romance,  the Chant d’Amour as an allegory of death--you know, standard wedding stuff. 

In her biography, The Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones, Georgie referenced a portrait of Death on the panel below the keyboard of their piano.  She described Death as  "standing outside the gate of a garden where a number of girls, unconscious of his approach, are resting and listening to music."

Drawing of the Day: Simeon Solomon's "In the Temple of Venus," 1865

In the Temple of Venus
Simeon Solomon, c. 1865
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A head-and-shoulders portrait, this watercolor of a woman with ginger hair in a green gown immediately puts one in mind of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, however, the background of the piece with its loosely-drawn statuette and classical columns, is a far cry from the almost-photographic detail inherent in the work of Pre-Raphaelite artists.

This is the work of Simeon Solomon (1840-1905).  Solomon had long bemoaned that he never had been given a classical education and had no understanding of Latin and Greek.  He formed close friendships with the poet Algernon Swinburne, the Eton schoolmaster Oscar Browning, and the Oxford don Walter Pater, the great critic of the Italian Renaissance--thereby giving himself a chance to become deeply familiar with classical subjects.  

Simeon titled this piece, "In the Temple of Venus."  It's part of a series he painted during the middle part if the 1860s which subtly focussed on gay and lesbian themes, a study for which there was no name at the time.  

The Home Beautiful: Edward Burne-Jones' Marriage Piano, 1860

"[I] lived inside the pictures and from the inside of them looked out upon a world less real than they."

--Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, in a letter to May Gaskell

Piano
Frederick Priestly, 1860
Painted panels by Edward Burne-Jones
This and all related images courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum

The name Edward Burne-Jones immediately puts one in mind of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and theatrical images of languid, titian-haired beauties, rich turquoise and emerald hues and deceptively sparkling waters.  Burne-Jones was one of the most influential of the Brotherhood, the conductor of a beautiful orchestra, if you will.

Georgiana Burne-Jones

And, so, such an artist should have a lovely instrument.  This piano, made in 1860, is the work of Frederick Priestley, an otherwise, as the V&A puts it, unknown piano maker.  The piano was presented as a wedding gift to Edward Burne-Jones and Georgiana "Georgie" MacDonald in 1860. 

Burne-Jones decorated the otherwise modest and plain instrument's case of American oak with a scene from the Medieval Romance,  the Chant d’Amour as an allegory of death--you know, standard wedding stuff. 

In her biography, The Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones, Georgie referenced a portrait of Death on the panel below the keyboard of their piano.  She described Death as  "standing outside the gate of a garden where a number of girls, unconscious of his approach, are resting and listening to music."

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Laura Lyttleton Memorial Tablet by Edward Burne-Jones, 1886

Memorial Tablet
Edward Burne-Jones, 1886
One of two.  This one, polychrome; the other, white.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Since antiquity, memorial tablets have been produced to mark the passing of a loved one.  These tablets aren’t meant to be tombstones, but are used in private venues away from the burial place to serve of reminders of the deceased.

These colored plaster memorial tablet was designed by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) in memory of his close friend Laura Lyttleton (née Tennant).  Lyttleton died in childbirth in 1886 within the first year of her marriage.

This is one of two that Burne-Jones created for Lyttleton.  The original—of plain white plaster--was installed in the church of St Andrew in Mells, Somerset. The colored version which we see here was made for Burne-Jones's own house, The Grange, in Fulham.

Burne-Jones, like many artists in his Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood--favored the symbolism of the peacock.   He had been studying Byzantine art and discovered that the peacock was a symbol of the Resurrection in Greek culture of the Christian era.

Lady Georgiana Burne-Jones described this tablet in her biography of her husband.  She wrote:

Laura, the daughter of Sir Charles Tennant: in our house she so fascinated us all that we called her ‘The Siren’ [Her memorial] is eight feet high and an effigy of a peacock which is the symbol of the Resurrection standing upon a laurel tree - and the laurel grows out of the tomb and burst through the side of the tomb with a determination to go on living and refusing to be dead and below was a Latin inscription made by Dean Church one of the many who loved her.

The Home Beautiful: The William Morris "Fruit" Wallpaper, 1862

Sketch for Fruit Wallpaper
William Morris, 1862
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Designer and famous socialist William Morris (1834-1896) is known for his handsome designs and patterns. His style developed over the decades. Here’s a look at an early wallpaper pattern which is known both as “Fruit” and “Pomegranate” and dates from around 1862.

Morris used visual motifs from his medieval-style tapestry work, relying on the historical look which his earlier work shared with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. We see, however, the awakenings of Morris’ interest in naturalism and plants.

This sketch varies from the finished wallpaper. The olives were replaced with peaches in the finished product. Morris deemed the olives too delicate and difficult to see. The pattern forms the basis for the original wallpaper which was used for the V&A's Green Dining Room, circa 1866—now long gone.

Drawing of the Day: Simeon Solomon's "In the Temple of Venus," 1865

In the Temple of Venus
Simeon Solomon, c. 1865
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A head-and-shoulders portrait, this watercolor of a woman with ginger hair in a green gown immediately puts one in mind of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, however, the background of the piece with its loosely-drawn statuette and classical columns, is a far cry from the almost-photographic detail inherent in the work of Pre-Raphaelite artists.

This is the work of Simeon Solomon (1840-1905).  Solomon had long bemoaned that he never had been given a classical education and had no understanding of Latin and Greek.  He formed close friendships with the poet Algernon Swinburne, the Eton schoolmaster Oscar Browning, and the Oxford don Walter Pater, the great critic of the Italian Renaissance--thereby giving himself a chance to become deeply familiar with classical subjects.  

Simeon titled this piece, "In the Temple of Venus."  It's part of a series he painted during the middle part if the 1860s which subtly focussed on gay and lesbian themes, a study for which there was no name at the time.  

Object of the Day: Edward Burne-Jones' Marriage Piano, 1860

"[I] lived inside the pictures and from the inside of them looked out upon a world less real than they."

--Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, in a letter to May Gaskell

Piano
Frederick Priestly, 1860
Painted panels by Edward Burne-Jones
This and all related images courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum

The name Edward Burne-Jones immediately puts one in mind of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and theatrical images of languid, titian-haired beauties, rich turquoise and emerald hues and deceptively sparkling waters.  Burne-Jones was one of the most influential of the Brotherhood, the conductor of a beautiful orchestra, if you will.

Georgiana Burne-Jones

And, so, such an artist should have a lovely instrument.  This piano, made in 1860, is the work of Frederick Priestley, an otherwise, as the V&A puts it, unknown piano maker.  The piano was presented as a wedding gift to Edward Burne-Jones and Georgiana "Georgie" MacDonald in 1860. 

Burne-Jones decorated the otherwise modest and plain instrument's case of American oak with a scene from the Medieval Romance,  the Chant d’Amour as an allegory of death--you know, standard wedding stuff. 

In her biography, The Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones, Georgie referenced a portrait of Death on the panel below the keyboard of their piano.  She described Death as  "standing outside the gate of a garden where a number of girls, unconscious of his approach, are resting and listening to music."

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Good Harvest of 1854

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Painter Charles Allston Collins was a friend of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and, as an admirer, imitated the bright color palette and detail of their paintings. The celebrated art critic John Ruskin lauded “the careful painting in this little study” entitled, “The Good Harvest of 1854.” In this scene, a young girl is shown with a sheaf of corn symbolizing bread. The ivy may alludes to the wine of Holy Communion.

This painting was part of the collection of the Reverend Chauncey Hare Townshend. Regular readers of this blog know the Reverend as a collector of jewels, but he also had an eye for paintings.

Painting of the Day: “Lorenzo and Isabella,” by John Everett Millais, 1848

Lorenzo and Isabella
John Everett Millais, 1848
The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

Fair Isabel, poor simple Isabel!
Lorenzo, a young palmer in Love's eye!
They could not in the self-same mansion dwell
Without some stir of heart, some malady;
They could not sit at meals but feel how well
It soothed each to be the other by.
These brethren having found by many signs
What love Lorenzo for their sister had,
And how she lov'd him too, each unconfines
His bitter thoughts to other, well nigh mad
That he, the servant of their trade designs
Should in their sister's love be blithe and glad
When 'twas their plan to coax her by degrees
To some high noble and his olive trees.
--“Isabella” or “Pot of Basil,” by Keats

This stunning painting was the first work of Pre-Raphaelite genius, John Everett Millais. Painted in 1848, it was based on a poem by Keats which was, in turn, based on a tale by Fourteenth Century Italian writer, Boccaccio. The story concerns a well-heeled young woman named Isabella who falls in love with one of her father’s apprentices, Lorenzo. Isabella’s brothers become nervous when they learn of their sister’s love. Fearing that should Lorenzo marry Isabella, their inheritance could be threatened, they lure Lorenzo into the woods and kill him, burying him in the forest. When Isabella learned of Lorenzo’s murder, she finds his body and disinters it, removing his head and hiding it in a flower pot in which she grows fragrant basil.

It’s just the sort of thing that would appeal to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood whose members rather enjoyed the combination of beauty and melancholy. Perhaps that’s why they were all so enamored of the lovely, but morose, poetry of Keats. Keats’ work inspired many a Pre-Raphaelite painting.

This work was displayed at the Royal Academy in 1849 to mixed reviews, but today it is considered one of the defining paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

The Home Beautiful: The William Morris "Fruit" Wallpaper, 1862

Sketch for Fruit Wallpaper
William Morris, 1862
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Designer and famous socialist William Morris (1834-1896) is known for his handsome designs and patterns. His style developed over the decades. Here’s a look at an early wallpaper pattern which is known both as “Fruit” and “Pomegranate” and dates from around 1862.

Morris used visual motifs from his medieval-style tapestry work, relying on the historical look which his earlier work shared with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. We see, however, the awakenings of Morris’ interest in naturalism and plants.

This sketch varies from the finished wallpaper. The olives were replaced with peaches in the finished product. Morris deemed the olives too delicate and difficult to see. The pattern forms the basis for the original wallpaper which was used for the V&A's Green Dining Room, circa 1866—now long gone.

Painting of the Day: Head of Sleeping Attendant from Briar Rose, 1881-1886

Study of a Sleeping Attendant from "Sleeping Beauty"
Edward Burne-Jones, c. 1881
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This monochrome study by the famed Pre-Raphaelite painter, Edward Burne-Jones demonstrates his curious ability to draw in detail using only a paintbrush. This head-study is for a female sleeping attendant in one of a series of four paintings on the theme of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty.

Burne-Jones has frozen the scene at a moment before the princess is awakened by the prince's kiss.  

While the series, at face value, is an innocent exploration on the theme, making a good use of the Pre-Raphaelite sensibilities, art historians suggest that there’s something else lurking beneath.  According to the V&A, “One theory is that the series refers to Burne-Jones's disquiet at the impending marriage of his daughter, Margaret, wishing her to remain untouched for ever. “

Hmmm…a look at the series reveals that the sleeping girls, all of whom share the features of the figure in this study, resemble the artist’s daughter, Margaret, and he gave his daughter a gouache version of the sleeping princess as a wedding present. “Thanks, Dad!  That’s not creepy at all.”

The finished paintings are in the Faringdon Collection at Buscot Park in Berkshire.  These studies live  in the V&A.

Sculpture of the Day: Laura Lyttleton Memorial Tablet by Edward Burne-Jones, 1886

Memorial Tablet
Edward Burne-Jones, 1886
One of two.  This one, polychrome; the other, white.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Since antiquity, memorial tablets have been produced to mark the passing of a loved one.  These tablets aren’t meant to be tombstones, but are used in private venues away from the burial place to serve of reminders of the deceased.

These colored plaster memorial tablet was designed by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) in memory of his close friend Laura Lyttleton (née Tennant).  Lyttleton died in childbirth in 1886 within the first year of her marriage.

This is one of two that Burne-Jones created for Lyttleton.  The original—of plain white plaster--was installed in the church of St Andrew in Mells, Somerset. The colored version which we see here was made for Burne-Jones's own house, The Grange, in Fulham.

Burne-Jones, like many artists in his Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood--favored the symbolism of the peacock.   He had been studying Byzantine art and discovered that the peacock was a symbol of the Resurrection in Greek culture of the Christian era.

Lady Georgiana Burne-Jones described this tablet in her biography of her husband.  She wrote:

Laura, the daughter of Sir Charles Tennant: in our house she so fascinated us all that we called her ‘The Siren’ [Her memorial] is eight feet high and an effigy of a peacock which is the symbol of the Resurrection standing upon a laurel tree - and the laurel grows out of the tomb and burst through the side of the tomb with a determination to go on living and refusing to be dead and below was a Latin inscription made by Dean Church one of the many who loved her.

Painting of the Day: The Good Harvest of 1854

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Painter Charles Allston Collins was a friend of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and, as an admirer, imitated the bright color palette and detail of their paintings. The celebrated art critic John Ruskin lauded “the careful painting in this little study” entitled, “The Good Harvest of 1854.” In this scene, a young girl is shown with a sheaf of corn symbolizing bread. The ivy may alludes to the wine of Holy Communion.

This painting was part of the collection of the Reverend Chauncey Hare Townshend. Regular readers of this blog know the Reverend as a collector of jewels, but he also had an eye for paintings.

Gratuitous Bertie Dog Picture: The Enchanted Bertie

“You call this an enchanted garden?  Where are the sandwiches?”

Image: The Enchanted Garden, John William Waterhouse, 1917 (unfinished at the time of the artist’s death), The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool.

Painting of the Day: Rossetti’s “Two Mothers,” 1850-1865

The Two Mothers
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1850-1865
Sudley House, Liverpool

This painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti began as a much larger work. Rossetti’s original plan with the canvas was to show a scene of an aristocratically-draped woman reading a book of Italian poetry. For unknown reasons, Rossetti progressively cut down the canvas, retaining only the bust of the female figure.


The painting lay untouched for several years until it was revisited by the Pre-Raphaelite genius who was inspired to transform the scene into an allegorical image of motherhood and piety.

Rossetti added the figure of the child and, later, painted a statuette of the Virgin Mary in front of them. Re-titling the painting, “The Two Mothers,” Rossetti was finally pleased with his work. The changes in his painting style are quite obvious when one compares the image of the woman with those of the child and the sculpture.

This painting, like many of those of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, finds inspiration in poetry. The theme of family piety came to Rossetti after reading the works of Robert Browning.

Painting of the Day: “Lorenzo and Isabella,” by John Everett Millais, 1848

Lorenzo and Isabella
John Everett Millais, 1848
The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

Fair Isabel, poor simple Isabel!
Lorenzo, a young palmer in Love's eye!
They could not in the self-same mansion dwell
Without some stir of heart, some malady;
They could not sit at meals but feel how well
It soothed each to be the other by.
These brethren having found by many signs
What love Lorenzo for their sister had,
And how she lov'd him too, each unconfines
His bitter thoughts to other, well nigh mad
That he, the servant of their trade designs
Should in their sister's love be blithe and glad
When 'twas their plan to coax her by degrees
To some high noble and his olive trees.
--“Isabella” or “Pot of Basil,” by Keats

This stunning painting was the first work of Pre-Raphaelite genius, John Everett Millais. Painted in 1848, it was based on a poem by Keats which was, in turn, based on a tale by Fourteenth Century Italian writer, Boccaccio. The story concerns a well-heeled young woman named Isabella who falls in love with one of her father’s apprentices, Lorenzo. Isabella’s brothers become nervous when they learn of their sister’s love. Fearing that should Lorenzo marry Isabella, their inheritance could be threatened, they lure Lorenzo into the woods and kill him, burying him in the forest. When Isabella learned of Lorenzo’s murder, she finds his body and disinters it, removing his head and hiding it in a flower pot in which she grows fragrant basil.

It’s just the sort of thing that would appeal to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood whose members rather enjoyed the combination of beauty and melancholy. Perhaps that’s why they were all so enamored of the lovely, but morose, poetry of Keats. Keats’ work inspired many a Pre-Raphaelite painting.

This work was displayed at the Royal Academy in 1849 to mixed reviews, but today it is considered one of the defining paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Masterpiece of the Week: “The Blessed Damozel,” 1875-9, Dante Gabriel Rossetti

“She had three lilies in her hand, and the stars in her hair were seven.”

--Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The Blessed Damozel
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1875-1879
The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool

One of the most famous artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was as much of a poet as he was a painter. And, like so many people with creative tendencies, he took a bit of delight in tragedy and general depression. Most of his works deal with unhappy people in situations wherein they cannot be with the one they love—forever.

And, such is the case with this beautiful, yet somewhat sad, painting by Rossetti from 1875. He’s based the painting on a poem that he wrote about a beautiful young maiden who died prematurely and went to heaven. But, heaven wasn’t so great for her. You see, she pined for her earthly lover and leaned on the gold railing of heaven, all day, every day, to watch him and wait for him to die and join her.

Ever the clever chap, Rossetti has styled this painting like a Renaissance altarpiece, giving it a monumental and regal quality that only makes it seem that much more important, and that much sadder.

Painting of the Week: A Portrait by William Holman Hunt, 1847

William Holman Hunt, 1847
F.G. Stevens
Tate Britain

William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite School of artists which strove to create crisp, romantic, almost hyper-realistic artwork of fantastical themes. His early work, however, was defined by a sharply contrasting loose style of approach. This painting of Holman Hunt’s friend, F.G. Stevens is an excellent example of the artist’s early work. Here, we see a figure of a young man, painted in free, natural brushstrokes. We can, however, see the elements of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood beginning to develop in the romanticized facial features of the model.


F.G. Stevens was a frequent model for Holman Hunt and his friends. Stevens was also a painter, but later abandoned brushes for a pen and embarked on a successful career as a writer and critic. His influence, in fact, was one of the driving forces behind the acceptance of The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in England. This just goes to prove that when all of the different arts work together, something exceptional will always happen.