Study for 'The Baleful Head'

The present lot is a study for Burne-Jones’, The Baleful Head, 1886-7, which is the final work from the Perseus series (fig.1, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany). This series was commissioned by Lord Arthur Balfour in 1875, to be hung in the music room of his London residence, at 4 Carlton Gardens.

Lord Balfour and Burne-Jones were both interested in William Morris’s epic poem, The Earthly Paradise, and through reading it, Balfour decided to commission the Perseus Series. Burne-Jones planned to create ten paintings depicting the adventures of Perseus, from the slaying of Medusa through to the rescue of Andromeda from Poseidon’s sea monster. Unfortunately, the series was never finished due to Burne-Jones’s ill health.

The scene depicted in The Baleful Head takes place after Perseus has married Andromeda. Perseus then shows Andromeda Medusa’s head, through the reflection in the octagonal well, so as not to turn her into stone. Burne-Jones’s sketches were an important aspect of his artistic process, and it is interesting to note the similarity of this study with the finished oil version. Lord Balfour visited Burne-Jones at his house, The Grange, to approve the sketches ahead of them being painted in oil.

Burne-Jones transports viewers to alternate realities, which were far from the realism that some of his contemporaries were trying to create. The nine works preceeding The Baleful Head are full of action and conquest, displaying the turmoil of good fighting evil. However, The Baleful Head is the culmination of this struggle, the depiction of happiness, good and beauty being rewarded.