Edward Burne-Jones

Artist Alphonse Legros (Dijon, France, 1837 - 1911)

Sitter Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (Birmingham, England, 1833 - 1898)

Date1868 - 1869

Mediumoil on panel

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsHeight: 46 cm, Width: 37.2 cm
Frame Size: 67.7 × 59.5 × 4cm

AcquisitionPresented in 1922 by Sir James Murray.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG002505

Keywords

About MeThis sombre image of the Victorian artist Edward Burne-Jones was painted by Legros when he was based in London. Legros had been introduced to Burne-Jones by the Pre-Raphelite artist D.G. Rossetti and his brother William. They also introduced Legros to his greatest patron, George Howard, Earl of Carlisle, who owned this painting.

The painting shows Legros' enormous debt to the severe portrait style of the Venetian artist Giorgione, who was roughy ten years older than Raphael, and the Florentine artist Jacopo Pontormo, who was eleven years Raphael's junior. Both these artists were famed for their depiction of numerous Italian noblemen, painted in a landscape setting, positioned full-face and attired, as was the fashion of the time, entirely in black.

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Legros' full-face portrait of Edward Burne-Jones is set against a classical landscape, green and lush. This severe and sombre image was painted when Legros was based in London.