Overwhelming passion was a constant theme in Burne-Jones’s art. He was working on this study for a Morris & Company tapestry showing Venus’ conquest when he died in 1898. Although preliminary, the intricate composition is clearly established: the goddess enters at left in a winged chariot while Cupid prepares the way. As women fall before him, he fits an arrow for the next victim among a crowd of nervous beauties. Burne-Jones invented the motif, drawing on medieval poetry and Renaissance allegories of the triumph of love, for his personal homage to the irresistible power of desire. The design was used by Merton Abbey Tapestry Works to weave two tapestries, in 1908 and 1922. The first was destroyed by fire and the second is now at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Passing of Venus
Artist:Sir Edward Burne-Jones (British, Birmingham 1833–1898 Fulham)
Date:1898
Medium:Gouache (bodycolor) and metallic paint on cardboard
Dimensions:16-1/16 x 38-11/16 in. (40.8 x 98.2 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1962
Accession Number:62.167
Marking: Stamped on verso: Charles Roberson and Co. / Artists Colourmen / Manufacturers of / Water and oil colours / Materials for / Drawing and Painting / 99 Long Acre, London; Sticker on wooden backing of drawing: Works of Sir Edward Burne-Jones Bart. / Coloured design / for the "Passing of Venus" / C. Roberson and Co. / 99 Long Acre
Estate of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (British); Charles Roberson & Co. (British), 1907 or earlier; Grégoire Tarnopol, purchased in Paris; Vendor: James Coats
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," November 28, 1994–February 5, 1995.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer," June 4–September 6, 1998.
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. "Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer," October 17, 1998–January 17, 1999.
Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "Edward Burne-Jones, 1833–1898," March 1–June 6, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Pre-Raphaelite Legacy: British Art and Design," May 20–October 26, 2014.
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society Catalogue of the Sixth Exhibition. The New Gallery, 121 Regent Street. 1899, cat. no. 197, p. 77 ("Picture: The Passing of Venus" sketch for tapestry by the late Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart.).
Sir Philip Burne-Jones "Notes on Some Unfinished Works of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bt." Magazine of Art. February 1900, pp. 162-4 (notes that unfinished works are being exhibited in the garden studio of Burne-Jones's former house "The Grange," and discusses the unfinished cartoon for "The Passing of Venus" (no. 33), as the last work entered in the artist's diary).
Aymer Vallance "The Decorative Art of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Baronet." The Art Journal (Easter Art Annual). Virtue & Co., Extra number, 1900, pp. 8, 30, ill.
Georgiana Burne-Jones Memorials of Sir Edward Burne-Jones. 2 vols., 1904, vol. II, p. 331.
"The Craft Section at the New Gallery." The International Studio. vol. 35, pt. 3, July-October, 1908, pp. 56-7.
Aymer Vallance "Some Examples of Tapestries Designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones and Mr. J. H. Dearle." The International Studio. vol. 36, November 1908, no. 141, pp. 5, 16-17.
A.C.W. "The Passing of Venus." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts. vol. 8, no. 7, April 1927, pp. 78-80.
Henry Currie Marillier History of the Merton Abbey Tapestry Works, Founded by William Morris. Constable & Co., Ltd., London, 1927, pp. 21, 35.
Martin Harrison, Bill Waters Burne-Jones. New York, 1973, pp. 52, 138.
Rowland and Betty Elzea The Pre-Raphaelite Era, 1848-1914. Ex. cat., Delaware Art Museum. Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware, 1976, cat. no. 4-61, p. 94 (related tapestry, cat. no. 4-63, p. 96).
Oliver Fairclough, Emmeline Leary Textiles by William Morris and Morris & Co., 1861-1940. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981, cat. no. T23, p. 111 (MMA drawing discussed in connection to the related tapestry at the Detroit Institute of Arts, woven by Percy Sheldrick, 1922-26).
Linda Parry "The Revival of the Merton Abbey Tapestry Works." Journal of the William Morris Society. vol. 5.3, Summer 1983, pp. 18-21 (related tapestry woven by Morris & Company).
Alan P. Darr, Tracey Albainy, Melanie Holcomb Woven Splendor: five centuries of European tapestry in the Detroit Institute of Arts Exh. cat. Detroit Institute of Arts, July 14 - September 29. 1996, p. 71, fig. 15 (MMA drawing was lent to this exhibition).
Stephen Wildman, John Christian Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998, no. 100, pp. 234-6, ill.
Christie's, London Important British Art. [Sale catalogue]. London, November 24, 2004, lot 10, pp. 48-53 (related work, oil on panel, 1875).
Douglas E. Schoenherr "Transcript: Burne-Jone's Account Books with Morris & Company, vol. 1 (1861-1882) and vol. 2 (1883-1900)." The Journal of Stained Glass: Burne-Jones Special Issue. vol. 35, 2011, p. 123 (related work, "Triumph of Love," 1861 design for a panel of tiles).
Douglas E. Schoenherr "Annotated Checklist of Edward Burne-Jones's Designs for Morris & Company in Order of Entry in his Account Books–Addenda to "The Cartoon Book" and Morris & Comapny's Sale of Burne-Jones's Cartoons in 1901-1904." The Journal of Stained Glass: Burne-Jones Special Issue. vol. 35, 2011, cat. no. 8, p. 185 (related work: "Triumph of Love," a cartoon for panel of 15 tiles).
Linda Parry William Morris Textiles. V&A Publishing, 2013, p. 151, quotes a letter from Philip Burne-Jones to Henry Dearle: "I am keeping back from the sale of my Father's works the Tapestry design he was at work at up to within a short time of his death--which I believe you intended to work out in tapestry...if you have enough to go upon or if the design is sufficient for your purposes.".
Melissa Buron , et al Truth and Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelites and the Old Masters. 2018, p. 201, pl. 103.
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