THE PERSEUS SERIES
PERSEUS & THE GRAIAE (1877)
† NCM 1900- 664-8
The first task for Perseus was to find the Graiae and ask them where he could find the Nymphs who kept the items he needed to defeat Medusa, a Gorgon with snakes in her hair and whose stare turned men into stone. The Graiae were sisters of the Gorgons, who lived in darkness near the end of the earth. Between them, they had only one eye and one tooth that they shared. When they refused Perseus's request he took the eye and forced them to give him an answer. Burne-Jones shows Perseus holding the eye while the Graiae, portrayed in classical dress, grope in blindness.
In 1875 the politician Lord Arthur Balfour commissioned Burne-Jones to create a series of paintings for the music room of his London home. BurneJones’s work was often inspired by mythology and legend and presented an imaginary world focused on beauty of form and spirit. A re-telling of the Greek myth of Perseus in William Morris’s poem ‘The Earthly Paradise’ provided the subject. Burne-Jones worked on the project for ten years but it was never completed.
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PERSEUS & THE SEA NYMPHS (THE ARMING OF PERSEUS) (1877)
THE ROCK OF DOOM (1885)
As he travelled back to Seriphos, The Perseus myth would have Perseus spied a beautiful young been told as a story and passed woman chained to a rock. down the generations, so there This was Andromeda whose are many different versions and mother had boasted of her different orders to the events. beauty and incurred the wrath In his version, Burne-Jones of the god Poseidon. In order follows Perseus from the Graiae to break the sea god's curse to the Sea Nymphs who keep Andromeda was to be sacrificed three items vital to his quest: to a sea serpent. Burne-Jones the winged sandals of the god shows Perseus removing his Hermes, a helmet of invisibility helmet and revealing himself belonging to Hades (god of the to the girl, who looks modestly Underworld) and a bag in which embarrassed rather than to keep the severed Gorgon's terrified. Perseus immediately head. Burne-Jones’s empty fell in love and resolved to landscape focuses attention save her. Her pose here recalls on the figures and presents a that of classical sculpture, but seemingly calm scene. her nakedness also embodies vulnerability and the highly sensual female figure.
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THE DOOM FULFILLED (1885)
THE BALEFUL HEAD (1885)
Perseus freed Andromeda from her chains and waited for the sea monster to appear. The beast attempted to crush Perseus in its coils but in Burne-Jones’s battle he calmly holds off the serpent and prepares to strike with his sword. Andromeda's apparent lack of concern is characteristic of Burne-Jones’s female figures who often have an otherworldly beauty and detachment from their situation. Her static figure provides balance to the volatile movements of Perseus and the sea monster.
The final painting in the series shows Perseus and Andromeda at peace in a beautiful and fruitful garden. In order to convince Andromeda that he is the son of Zeus and claim her hand in marriage, Perseus shows her Medusa's head, taking care to look only at the reflection in the water. Despite Medusa traditionally being cast as a hideous creature, Burne-Jones presents her with far more attractive and softer features than one would expect.
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