The Wheel of Fortune was Burne-Jones’ favourite painting according to his son Philip and it is certainly a masterpiece of Symbolist design. He worked on several versions for a period of ten years from the mid-1870s – the version at the Musée d’Orsay, exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1883, is considered the prime version. Burne-Jones made many experiments for the drapery of Fortuna in The Wheel of Fortune. In some he designed an elaborate arrangement of braided hair, various cowls and veils before finally choosing a head garment that vaguely resembles a milkmaid’s cap. The arrangement of the folds of her dress also presented Burne-Jones with a myriad of options for the design.
Possibly part of lot 7 in Margaret MacKail's sale of 3 December 1954. The drapery study, on the reverse bears a price of 15 shillings and a dealer's stock number 3164. Lot 7 was purchased by F R Meatyard and the number may relate to his stock records.
Pencil study for the face and drapery of the main protagonist - the goddess Fortuna - in what is purported to be Burne-Jones's favourite work, The Wheel of Fortune. The artist worked on several versions of the subject over a period of ten years from the mid 1870s; the large-scale oil in the Musée d’Orsay, which was exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1883, is considered the prime version. The painting presents an allegory of the vagaries of life, with individual lives elevated or cast down as the wheel of fortune turns - or, in the artist's own words: "My wheel of Fortune is a true-to-life image; it comes to fetch each of us in turn, then it crushes us."