St. Matthew is a cartoon, a preparatory drawing for a stained-glass window in the south transept of Jesus College Chapel at Cambridge University in England. Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones received this commission in 1873 for a set of windows depicting the four Evangelists. The style of the design is characteristic of the Pre-Raphaelites: angular, elongated forms and lines, the distinctive languid face of the saint, and the classical and medieval influences present in the drawing all point to that style, made famous by one of the founders of the movement, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. As indicated by additional notes on the cartoon, this design was reused for other churches, as well as for at least one painting by Burne-Jones. Pencil and black and colored chalks were used for this highly finished preparatory drawing. Burne-Jones made notes in pencil on the cartoon about the color choices for the window’s final execution: “full ruby” is written to the left of the midsection of Matthew and “grey blue” on the Evangelist’s right knee. These colors indeed appear in the finished window at Jesus College, and the overall design for the window remained quite faithful to this cartoon.
F. P. 39 / Morton Aug 1891 / Cloak Blue red lining / ... step ? 1/2 blac. / Angel Pale pink / ? ?