According to legend, King Arthur was taken by three queens to Avalon, where he would slumber until the summons to rise again and perform his acts of faith in the world. 'Avalon' was Burne-Jones's magnum opus. It took seventeen years, was completed after his death by his son Philip, and spanned the heights of the artist's symbolist interpretation of medieval legends. The finished oil painting, 23 feet in length, is now in a foreign private collection. The work was originally commissioned by George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle, to hang in his library at Narworth, This claim was, however, relinquished when he realized how much Burne-Jones was spiritually and emotionally involved in the work. 'Avalon' was originally planned in the form of a triptych, although in the course of seventeen years the design was altered significantly, as shown in the numerous extant studies of detail and design variants.
Auction sales: October 21st 1949; July 10th 1953; October 23rd 1953