Victorian delights

I just managed to catch the fabulous Burne-Jones exhibition at Tate Britain before it closed at the end of February. One of the last Pre-Raphaelites and a student of Rosetti, Edward Burne-Jones brought imaginary worlds to life in awe-inspiring paintings, stained glass windows and tapestries. Born in 1833, Burne-Jones rejected the industrial world of the Victorians, looking instead for inspiration from medieval art, religion, myths and legends. He made spectacular works depicting Arthurian knights, classical heroes and Biblical angels – working across painting, stained glass, embroidery, jewellery and more. The exhibition brought together 150 major works from his career and was a real treat with lots of interesting connections. His early work on display, mainly pen and ink drawings, was quite different from the later paintings we have come to know him for. Originally a draughtsman, Burne-Jones moved into an expression of mood or idea, replacing the earlier focus on providing a realistic description of the natural world. Initially a theology student, he was inspired by the church and by all things medieval and remained committed to the ideal of beauty throughout his career. For him it represented the antidote to the crude ugliness and rampant materialism he believed was degrading modern Britain (Tate Britain).

With his friend William Morris, Burne-Jones was a pioneer of the Arts and Crafts movement which aimed to bring beautiful design to everyone. In Britain the damaging effects of machine-dominated production on both social conditions and the quality of manufactured goods had been recognised since around 1840. But it was not until the 1860s and '70s that new approaches in architecture and design were championed in an attempt to correct the problem. The Arts and Crafts movement in Britain was born out of an increasing understanding that society needed to adopt a different set of priorities in relation to the manufacture of objects. Its leaders wanted to develop products that not only had more integrity but which were also made in a less dehumanising way.

Burne-Jones' interest in medieval religion in particular, is obvious in many of his most famous paintings and, indeed, in much of his stained glass work. I, and my students, were fortunate to see the beautiful 'St. Frideswide' window in Christ Church, Oxford on a school trip two years ago and to be shown the window by their excellent Education Officer:

"This is one of the many episodes in Saint Frideswide’s story, depicted by the young Edward Burne-Jones in the window dedicated to the Saxon princess, healer and saint. Saint Frideswide is deep in prayer. Despite her unlikely surroundings, she is not alone and remains fully focused on her relationship with God. She is imploring His aid and His protection. By including elements of the natural world such as water, ducks and sunflowers which symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity, Burne-Jones seems to be reassuring the saint and the viewer that God is present, and all will be well".

Jackie Holderness, Education Officer

Both Burne-Jones and Morris were lovers of medieval and romantic literature which inspired much of their work. Chaucer's The Romaunt of the Rose (based originally on a French allegorical poem), was the inspiration for The Pilgrim outside the Garden of idleness (a scene from the poem: copyright Art UK ) and his famous Love Among the Ruins (below - Guardian Images) was based on Robert Browning's poem of the same title.

Many more of his paintings were based on scenes from Malory's Morte d'Arthur.

His Briar Rose sequence of paintings designed for Buscot Park in Oxfordshire, were based on Grimm's Sleeping Beauty.

As well as paintings, stained glass, textile design, tapestry and embroidery, Burne-Jones designed some exquisite book illustrations for his friend William Morris' Kelmscott Press. Many beautiful books were produced, the finest of which was The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, designed by Morris and illustrated by Burne-Jones (http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/morris/kelmscott.html). This book, published in 1896, was on display in the Exhibition but has now been returned to its place in the British Library where you can ask to see it!