Perseus and Andromeda

Edward Burne-Jones
Britain
28 August 1833 – 17 June 1898

Perseus and Andromeda
1876
oil on canvas
Currently on display, Gallery 12
Place made
London
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
152.2 x 229.0 cm
188.0 x 264.0 cm (frame)
Credit line
Elder Bequest Fund 1902
Accession number
0.329
Signature and date
Not signed. Not dated.
Provenance
The artist, bt by Harold Rathbone of Della Robbia Pottery, Birkenhead 1870s; acquired by AGSA from the above on the advice of H.P. Gill (Honorary Curator) 1902.
Media category
Painting
Collection area
British paintings

  • WALL LABEL: Radical Classical, collection display

    In 1875 the up-and-coming politician and future prime minister A. J. Balfour commissioned a series of paintings by Burne-Jones for the music room of his London house. The subject chosen was William Morris’s epic poem The Earthly Paradise (1868-70), parts of which were based on various ancient Greek myths, including that of Perseus. The project kept Burne-Jones fully occupied until 1888, but, like this painting, was never finished.


    The story of the rescue by Perseus of the Ethiopian princess Andromeda is here told in two parts. On the left, the warrior-deity Perseus, fresh from his victory over the Medusa, discovers and falls in love with the naked Andromeda, who had been chained to a rock to placate a gruesome sea-dragon. On the right, the helmeted Perseus slays the beast. Andromeda, now seen from behind, is thus set free. Later they married.


    Tansy Curtin, Curator of International Art Pre-1980

  • Pre-Raphaelite Art: Paintings, Drawings, Engravings, Sculpture, Tapestries, Chintzes, Wallpapers

    Art Gallery of Western Australia,
    National Gallery of Victoria,
    Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art,
    Art Gallery of New South Wales,

  • Morris & Company: Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts & Crafts Movement in South Australia

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 4 February 1994 – 8 May 1994