St Theophilus and the Angel - Sketch/ Dalziels' Bible Gallery - Ezekiel and the Boiling Pot1863 Accession number: 1927P511 Pencil on cream toned paper. Verso: charcoal or black chalk on paper. Width: 189 mm Height: 178 mm InformationOne of a number of studies in Birmingham's collection for the watercolour entitled 'Theophilus and the Angel'. Two versions of the painting were made, one was destroyed in the second world war (1863), the other (c.1866) was sold at Sotheby's in 2008.The design differs considerably from that finally adopted for the 1863 watercolour. On the left, Theophilus stands on the first three steps, instead of on the topmost step. The temple of Venus is in the background at centre, whereas in the finished watercolour it is on the right. The body of St. Dorothea and her mourners are placed more to the left than in the watercolour, and the background figures in the latter appear to be omitted.The verso is a study showing an entirely different subject. The subject is taken from the Old Testament story of the prophet Ezekiel and the boiling pot (Ezekiel, chapters 16-24), and is probably a study for the illustration of the story for the Dalziel's Bible published in 1880. Burne-Jones began making designs for the project in 1863, and several studies and sketches of this are in the collection of the Tate Britain, which this study closely resembles. Also in Birmingham's collection are two wood engravings made of Burne-Jones's design for the Dalziels' Bible as well as the original woodblock.
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