W Graham Robertson observed that "Mrs Stillman (Marie Spartali)" was "Mrs Morris for Beginners." " The two marvels had many points in common: the same lofty stature, the same long sweep of limb, the "neck like a tower," the night dark tresses and the eyes of mystery, yet Mrs Stillman's loveliness conformed to the standard or ancient Greece. Walford Graham Robertson, Time Was: the Reminiscences of W. Graham Robertson, 1931, p. 95 Spartali was known to Burne-Jones from the mid-1860s, when she purchased "Cupid Discovering Psyche" (British Museum Acc. no 1954,0508.8). An unfinished portrait exists begun c. 1880 and her features appear in a number of paintings including The Mill (1870-82, Victoria and Albert Museum) The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon,( 1881-1898 Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico) and most notably in Danae and the Brazen Tower (1887-1888 Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum - Glasgow Art Gallery). A similar study is in Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales NM Acc. no NMW A 5480, made in 1885 is more like the head in the finished painting, but in the present drawing, made three years later, the artist ha appeared to have sort a differing psychological state, with the lips slightly apart and the gaze more apprehensive, using softer shading. It is apparent from comparing the two studies that Burne-Jones preferred to return to the more meditative state of the earlier drawing.