By Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones
The Blessed Damozel
Watercolour, gouache and shell gold on paper, on another layer of paper mounted on canvas, wrapped around a strainer.
1856 circa - 1861
Dimensions: 40.7 cm x 20.7 cm
Collection Categories
Watercolour, Gouache, Vellum, Gold, Finished Works and tempera on Paper, Works on Paper / Vellum
gallery label: back of frame, printed and inscribed: Works of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. / NEW GALLERY / WINTER EXHIBITION, 1898-9. / Title [added

The blessed damozel leaned out
From the gold bar of Heaven;
Her eyes were deeper than the depth
Of waters stilled at even.
D. G. Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti
05/02/2019

A first treatment of the subject was made in 1857 in oil but was abandoned ( Sotheby's 19 June 1984), a pen and ink version is included in The Little Holland House Album of 1858 and a pencil study c1860 is in the Birmingham Museum Art Gallery.
The model has a close resemblance to Jane Morris and the medieval costume is similar to that found in "Girl and Goldfish ( 1861-2). Probably painted at Red house, using the apple blossom from the trees in the garden that Morris had been at pains to preserve. Behind the figure is the medieval inspired rose trellis that Morris had planted and at the base of the picture is a playful reference to the roof of Red house itself.

William Waters
20/03/2019
Owner Dates Owned Further Info. and Accession no. circa
Thomas Edward Plint 1861-1862
Christie's London (Christie, Manson and Woods) 1862-1862 Thomas E. Plint; His Sale [Christie, Manson & Woods, London, March 7, 1862, Lot 203 Sold; To
T G Arthur 1863 T G Arthur was a Textile Manufacturer and Collector - listed as owner in de Lisle 1904
Charles Fairfax Murray 1870-1890
Grenville Lindall Winthrop 1890-1943
Fogg Art Museum / Harvard University Art Museums 1943 - Present
Exhibition Catalogue no, Page no, Illustration no. Institution/Venue People From To
Exhibition of the Works of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart 1898-9, Winter Exhibition , New Gallery 1898 The New Gallery December 1898 August 1899
Paintings and Drawings of the Pre-Raphaelites and their Circle Fogg 1946 Fogg Art Museum / Harvard University Art Museums April 1946 June 1946
Between Reality and Dreams: Nineteenth Century British and French Art from the Winthrop Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, Tokyo 2002 National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo September 2002 December 2002
32Q: 2130 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums 2015 National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo November 2016 April 2017
Title Author/Editor Year Page No. & Illustrations Attachments
Catalogue of the Highly Important Collection of English Pictures and Drawings, Formed by that distinguished Patron of Art, Thomas E. Plint, Esq. 1862
auct. cat., Christie, Manson and Woods, Ltd. (London, March 7, 1862), lot 203
The English Pre-Raphaelite Painters, their Associates and Successors Percy H Bate 1899
illus op cit p108
Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones GB-J Lady Georgiana Burne-Jones 1904
Vol 1 p 153-4 and 158
Burne-Jones, Fortunée de Lisle Fortunée de Lisle 1904
Chronology p179
Paintings and Drawings of the Pre-Raphaelites and Their Circle. Fogg 1946 Mary Wadsworth, Agnes Mongan, Richard D Buck 1946
no. 4
Burne-Jones William Waters, Martin Harrison 1973
illus fig. 45 p. 39
Burne-Jones: the paintings, graphic and decorative work of Sir Edward Burne-Jones 1833-98, Hayward Gallery 1975-6 John Christian, Miss Penelope Marcus 1975
pp. 184-205, p. 193, pl. 85
Nineteenth Century European Paintings and Drawings Anon 1984
auct. cat. (June 19, 1984), under lot 27
William Morris: A Life for Our Time Fiona MacCarthy 1994
p 123
Les fleurs et la modernité. Les jardins comme source d'inspiration, de l'art & craft à l'aube de l'art Professor Saskia Franciska Maria de Bodt 1996
p. 322, repr. p. 320
Burne-Jones Debra N Mancoff 1998
pl. 3 (color), also repr. p. 18 (detail, color), p. 25
Burne-Jones: The Life and Works of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) Christopher Wood (Christopher Edward Russell Wood) 1998
repr. p. 19 (color)
Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer John Christian, Stephen Wildman, Laurence des Cars, Alan Crawford, Philippe de Montebello, Irene Bizot, Graham Allen, Henri Loyrette 1998
under no. 8 and no. 19
The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites Professor Elizabeth Prettejohn 2000
p. 103, fig. 71 (color)
Between Reality and Dreams: Nineteenth Century British and French Art from the Winthrop Collection of the Fogg Art Museum Professor Chikashi Kitazaki, Mina Oya 2002
cat. no. 30-1, repr. (color)
Japan and Victorian England: Interactions Professor Masaie Matsumura 2012
Edward Burne-Jones - part 1, Art & Artists Paul Webb 2020
Pre-Raphaelites Drawings and Watercolours (Ashmolean Museum) Professor Christiana Payne, Dr Fiona Mann, Robert Wilkes, Dr Alexander Sturgis (Xa Sturgis) 2021
p 61 fig 51
Love Between Worlds: Edward Burne-Jones and the Theology of Art Miss Katherine Hinzman 2022