Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt., A.R.A., R.W.S.

Sale: Sotheby's, London, November 25, 1987, lot 39, illustrated
Private Collection, New York
Peter Nahum, London

Rachel Langford, Textual Intersections: Literature, History and the Arts in Nineteenth-century Europe, New York, 2009, p. 189

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work is in remarkable condition. The canvas is gessoed on the reverse but is unlined. The stretcher is original. The paint layer is clean and perfectly preserved. This is a very delicate paint layer which shows no retouches and has not been disturbed. There are two scratches in the varnish in the upper right. If the scratches in the varnish are eliminated, then the work should be hung in its current state.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

One of the most influential artists of the second generation of Pre-Raphaelites, Burne-Jones often found portraiture troublesome, once commenting, “I do not easily get portraiture and the perpetual hunt to find in a face what I like, and leave out what mislikes me, is a bad school for it,” (Georgiana Burne-Jones, Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones, London, 1904, vol. 1, p. 299).  Despite the genre’s challenge, Burne-Jones’ unique and sensitive portraits garnered esteemed recognition throughout the collecting community, particularly those of his family and closest acquaintances. The model for this remarkable portrait was Burne-Jones’ dear friend Marie Spartali, who married the American journalist and photographer W.J. Stillman in 1871 and who would remain the artist’s muse throughout his career, even portraying her as Danae in his monumental Tower of Brass (1884, Glasgow Art Gallery, fig. 1). In addition to her relationship with Burne-Jones, Marie would pose for a series of exquisite photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron (fig. 2), and also served as the model for many of the imposing later works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, including The Vision of Fiametta (1878, Private Collection, fig. 3), The Bower Meadow (1872, Manchester City Art Gallery) and the unfinished Desdemona's Death Song (circa 1878-1881, drawings at Birmingham City Art Gallery and the Collection of Lord Lloyd Webber).

Born March 10, 1844, Marie Spartali was the youngest daughter of Michael Spartali, a wealthy cosmopolitan merchant and later Greek consul general for London.  Marie and her two siblings, Christine and Demetrius, were raised in a large house in Clapham, which became the center of the Greek community in the 1860s. Her cousin, Maria Zambaco (née Cassavetti), was Burne-Jones’ mistress and model, and together with Aglaia Coronio, the confidante of both Rossetti and William Morris, the women were known as the “Three Graces” for their Greek heritage and striking beauty.  Constantine Ionides, a patron of Rossetti and Burne-Jones, whose collection is now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, was a great friend of the Spartalis, and it was probably through this connection that Marie, with her soft and graceful features, was “discovered” by the Pre-Raphaelites.  It is said that Marie made her debut with her sister in the late 1860s at a garden party in Tulse Hill, hosted by relations of the Ionides family, and their arrival caused a stir among the invited artists.  “We were all á genoux before them and of course every one of us burned with a desire to paint them,” recalled the artist Thomas Armstrong (Thomas Armstrong, A Memoir 1832-1911, London, 1912, p. 195).  The perceptive Graham Robertson described her as,  “a lofty beauty, gracious and noble; the beauty worshipped in Greece of old, yet with a wistful tenderness of poise, a mystery of shadowed eyes that gave life to what might have been a marble goddess," whilst the poet Swinburne exclaimed that she was “so beautiful I feel as if I could sit down and cry” (Graham Robertson, Time Was, 1931, p. 13; Armstrong, p. 195)

In addition to her warm personality, great intelligence, and position, Spartali was a talented artist in her own right, painting over a hundred works in the 1870s and 1880s in a rich style derived from that of Rossetti and of Ford Madox Brown.