Study for 'the Madness of Tristram', 1862. Study entitled 'Sketch of a composition by Mr. Geo: Howard made by Edward.Burne-Jones to help him with it' on reverse
Inscribed: E.B.J Sir Tristram's Madness in sepia ink probably by Charles Fairfax Murray Verso: 'Sketch of a composition by Mr. Geo: Howard made by Edward.Burne-Jones to help him with it' According to Dr Kathy Haslam, the expert on George Howard Ninth Earl of Carlisle, George Howard first met Burne-Jones in April 1865, which means that it must have been drawn on the reverse of the Tristram sketch sometime after that date and is therefore not coeval with the Tristram drawing. Burne-Jones had problems depicting madness and this subject is unique in his oeuvre it is very revealing that in the stained glass design and the watercolour the more unsavory elements he shows in the bystanders are reduced and modified in the final works. The six figures become three in the stained glass and two in the painting, they no-longer grimace in response to the situation and Sir Tristram appears less deranged, however , possibly due to bad painting the stained glass panel does seem to portray madness in a way that the other works don't.