Information

Inscribed with text from the Vulgate (also known as 'The Song of Songs', 'Canticles' or 'Song of Lebanon ['Sponsa di Libano'], Chapter IV, verse 16. Burne-Jones' absorbing interest in the linear patterns created by heavy swathes of drapery is even more apparent in his smaller-scale decorative work of the mid-1870's. A similar power of linear invention was diverted into a project of 1876, described by the artist as 'five designs from the Song of Solomon - for paintings on panel some day'.This set of large pencil drawings has also been associated with his support of the Royal School of Needlework, which opened in 1872. Through its foundress, his friend Madeline Wyndham, Burne-Jones provided two designs, 'Poesis' and 'Musica', to be worked in outline with brown crewel on linen. These proving both successful and popular, the 'Song of Solomon' series was then taken up, although only one full-size embroidery is known. There are also other versions of this composition: one. formerly in the collection of Frances Graham Horner, that is illustrated in the 1 July 1975 sale at Sotheby's , Belgravia (29); the other, a large-scale watercolour and bodycolour painting, dated 1891, now in the collection of the Lady Lever Art Gallery. For a study of one of the zephrys in the picture, see the autotype in Birmingham's collection, after the drawing also in the Lady Lever Art Gallery.

This project of 1876 was described by Burne-Jones as, 'five designs from the Song of Solomon - for paintings on panel some day'. This particular scene was executed in both embroidery by the Royal School of Needlework, and in watercolour by the artist in 1891 (now in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). This drawing is the design for the third composition, depicting Solomon's bride of Lebanon. Malcolm Bell, Burne-Jones's first chronicler, identifies the likely sources of these highly formalized, hieratic compositions, in engravings by Baldini and Pollaiuolo after Botticelli, especially the edition of Dante published by Niccolo di Lorenzo della Magra in 1481. The animation of 'Sponsa di Libano' is a welcome relief to the otherwise rather solemn groups of figures: even with the sharp bright draughtsmanship of a sheet like this, one can understand why in 1878 the 'Art Journal' expressed the hope that Burne-Jones would one day discover "that all mankind, especially womankind, do not walk around the world like hired mutes at a funeral."

  • Bequeathed by James Richardson Holliday, 1927.
  • © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery

Makers

Association Artist Organisation
Artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones -

Inscriptions

Type Position(s) Method Date(s) Notes
SVRGE: AQVILO: ET: VENI: AVSTER: PERFLA: HORTVM: MEVM: ET: FLVANT: AROMATA: ILLIVS// QVAM: PULCHRA: ES: ET: QVAM DECORA: CHARISSIMA: IN DELICIIS
Caption - Handwritten - Pencil. Inscription in the artist's hand
 

Exhibitions

Catalogue No. Venue Date(s)
Burne-Jones: The Paintings, Graphic and Decorative Work
313 Hayward Gallery, London 1975-11-05 - 1976-01-04
313 Southampton City Art Gallery 1976-01-24 - 1976-02-22
313 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery 1976-03-10 - 1976-04-11
 
Art Noveau in England & Scotland
43 Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Germany 1968-09-30 - 1969-12-02
 
Burne-Jones: dal preraffaelismo e simbolismo
147 Galleria Nazionale d'Arte, Rome 1986 - 1986
147 - - - -
 
Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer
82 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1998-06-04 - 1998-09-06
82 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery 1998-10-17 - 1999-01-17
82 Musée d'Orsay, Paris 1999-03-01 - 1999-06-06
 
Love Revealed
- BMAG 2005-10 - -
- Villa Stuck, Munich - - -
 

Literature

Author(s) Date(s) Publisher Pages
Edward Burne-Jones: A Record & Review
Malcolm Bell 1898 George Newnes, London pp. 55-56
 
Burne-Jones
Fortunee de Lisle 1904 Methuen, London p. 144
 
City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery: Catalogue of the Permanent Collection of Drawings
A E Whitley 1939 Bemrose & Sons Ltd, Derby p. 98
 
Visions of Love & Life
Stephen Wildman 1995 Art Services International p. 292 (repro)
 
Hidden Burne-Jones, Works on paper by Edward Burne-Jones from Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
2007 Dan Giles, Ltd., London p. 84

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