Astrologia was executed in the years following the completion of Red House, designed in a medieval style by Burne-Jones's best friend William Morris with the help of the architect Philip Webb. The last of the 'Venetian' female half-lengths of the early 1860s, when Burne-Jones had spent some time in Italy at the invitation of John Ruskin, the crystal gazer's dress is reminiscent of medieval Italian dress. The model was Augusta Jones who often sat for the artist at the time. It is one of the earliest works to include a crystal sphere. Georgiana Burne-Jones mentions in her letters the crystal ball being always present in her husband's studio. The Athenaeum, 14th January 1893: Astrologia (20), 1965, the public has not, we think seen before. It belongs to that peculiar sort of allegory in which the best of the Venetians took delight, and has also some traits of Florentine seriousness ... its style is larger, its inspiration more sober, but not less profound, its treatment is simpler, and its design more majestic. Astrologia is represented by a beautiful woman, dressed in a robe of deep rose-crimson. Her rich brown hair rests in large masses upon her shoulders. With both hands she holds up one of the huge crystal balls which in the mystical art of the Renaissance are held to represent the universe, and her eyes are searching its depths, crowded with reflections of men and things. This is a piece of art of rare kind. The background, a space of sober blue as obscure and yet as transparent as the firmament it stands for, serves to set off the figure and the branches of dark-grey bay that are touched with lights of gold.
After careful inspection of the original, I came to the conclusion that the young and experimental Burne-Jones, having finished the the work, had altered the back of her head, which was not entirely successful.
Burne-Jones’s move in 1865 to 41 Kensington Gardens precipitated a great period of creativity for the artist, and the present work, Astrologia, was one of the first pictures produced following this relocation. By this period, Burne-Jones had stylistically begun to move away from the medievalism synonymous with his early works, and had begun to introduce Italian sources to his art. This aesthetic shift was occasioned by his first two trips to Italy: initially in 1859 with his fellow artist Val Prinsep, and again in 1862 alongside his wife, Georgiana, and John Ruskin. Ruskin was so keen to ‘improve’ Burne-Jones’s style that he financially funded the trip, in the belief that making copies of Venetian works would greatly aid in the artist’s draughtsmanship and formal maturation. These trips certainly proved influential, with Burne-Jones remarking upon his return to his studio assistant, T.M. Rooke, that he thought ‘there could be no paintings in the world but Carpaccio’s and the other Venetians’ (S. Wildman and J. Christian, Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist Dreamer, New Haven, 2000, p. 98). Astrologia was thus conceived at the height of the artist’s Venetian tendency, and this influence can be evinced in the composition, by the half-length portrait in profile, and the figure’s diaphanous pink gown. The artist was undoubtedly looking to Renaissance portraiture at the time, as he is known to have made copies of Giulio Romano’s Isabella d’Este, circa 1520, which he saw in the collection at Hampton Court. The intricate black brocade and billowing proportions apparent in Isabella’s costume were subsequently applied by Burne-Jones for his 1860 painting, Sidonia von Bork (Tate Gallery, London). The model who sat to Burne-Jones for the present lot was Miss Augusta Jones, described by Georgiana Burne-Jones as ‘a noble looking girl’ for whom the artist had ‘much regard and respect’ (G. Burne-Jones, Memorials, London, 1904, p. 302, p. 360). Jones was a favourite of the artist during his early career, and he also employed her to model for Princess Sabra in the Princess and the Garden from the St George Series (Musée d’Orsay, Paris) of the same year. Both paintings render Jones’s androgynous and strong features in profile, clad in a loose pink gown and depicted deep in contemplation. However, in Astrologia, symbolism surpasses narrative, as the subject evokes the general art of astrology and doesn’t illustrate a specific scene from literature or myth. The background is dark and left entirely un-delineated except for a spray of laurel leaves, symbolic of transformation and triumph. The figure holds a dark and highly polished orb to her eyes, as she gazes deeply into it, prophesying what is to come. A heavy tome lies open in front of her, to assist with her divination. The work is standout in Burne-Jones’s œuvre, and unlike many of his paintings that depicted themes or subjects he returned to over a long period of time, there are only two smaller sketches known; one pastel, drawn in 1863 (Private Collection), that was given by the artist to Francis Blanche, the Burne-Jones’s housekeeper. The other identified drawing is a red chalk and pencil head study, again using Miss Augusta Jones as the model (Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham). In Astrologia Burne-Jones explores a more general mood of mysticism, as his model consults a highly-polished crystal ball, whilst she is otherwise plunged into darkness. The crystal ball was a fascinating motif employed by Burne-Jones throughout his career, and the ball itself stayed in his studio, being used in his 1895-1896 portrait of Baronne Deslandes (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, fig. 1); the French symbolist author who wrote under the nom de plume, Ossit. In both pictures, Burne-Jones seems to relish the dual purpose of the orb as both a means of reflecting light, also apparent in his use of convex mirrors, but also as a symbol to signify the occult and the sublime. Interestingly, Burne-Jones similarly embellishes the backdrop of Baronne Deslandes with laurel leaves, indicating that he was looking back to Astrologia when considering ways to depict the enigmatic and shadowy Baronne. The orb is also evident in Burne-Jones’s Days of Creation Series (fig. 2) which he designed for William Burges’s Great Bookcase. Madame Deslandes saw these works herself in the artist’s 1892 exhibition, describing them as ‘symbols of the immeasurable distress of creation’ (A. Smith, Edward Burne-Jones, London, 2018, p. 166.)
Augusta Jones (Anne Maria Jones b. 1843) was one of three sisters who modelled for artists in the 1860s, notably Lord Leighton, Albert Moore, Whistler, Burne-Jones, Poynter and Frederick Sandys (Mary Emma Jones b.1845 became Sandys common law wife). Milly (Emelie Eyre Jones b. 1850) was the model for Whistler's The White Girl. Augusta later married Fredrick Vincent Hart (1843-1914), stained glass artist, who worked in an aesthetic Burne-Jones style, for Daniel Cottier. She appears in his stained glass window as Psalm 103, St Nicholas Church, Cramlington (see Waters and Carew Cox "Damozels and Deities pl. 514 p. 321). A letter exists c.1867-8 from Burne-Jones to Augusta headed The Grange Northend, Fulham: "Dear Augusta I am afraid this week I shall not be quite ready for work: the confusion is too horrible to be quickly dissipated - will you begin sitting again to me please on Thursday week & come every thursday after that. Mr Solomon is here & sends his love Yours everything E Burne Jones"