Two studies of the arms and shoulders of a boy, wearing an open shirt or cloak; for the painting 'King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid' by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt ARA 1933-1898

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Two studies of the arms and shoulders of a boy, wearing an open shirt or cloak

For the painting 'King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid'

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

c.1875

Pencil on white paper

12 1/2 x 8 inches, 31.8 x 20.3 cm

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Commentary by Hilary Morgan

The present drawing is a study of the draperies worn by the left hand chorister standing on the balcony in the painting 'King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid' (1884, Tate Gallery, London). The inclusion of the choristers adds a 'musical' element, so important to the aesthetic movement, which recurs in this catalogue in works by Ricketts, Strudwick and Watts (numbers 175, 157 & 117, plates 129, 118 & 85).

The subject of the painting derives from the Elizabethan ballad which Tennyson used as a basis for his own poem, The Beggarmaid. William Holman Hunt illustrated the latter in the famous 'Moxon' edition of Tennyson's poems (1857), and this probably introduced Burne-Jones to the subject which he first painted in 1860 (Tate Gallery, London.) Burne-Jones began his major painting on the subject in about 1875 and this was exhibited at the New Gallery in 1884 (number 69). It was enthusiastically receivejd and bought by subscription for the Tate Gallery in 1900.

As the boy is wearing a different type of shirt in the painting, this suggests that the present drawing was made at an early stage of work towards it.

This drawing can be seen hanging in the memorial exhibition (the New Gallery, 1898-9) in the photographic album in this exhibition (number 85).

Bibliography

Morgan, Hilary and Nahum, Peter. Burne-Jones, The Pre-Raphaelites and Their Century. London: Peter Nahum, 1989. Catalogue number 72.

Last modified 5 June 2020