SIR EDWARD COLEY BURNE-JONES, BT., A.R.A., R.W.S. | STUDY FOR THE LAST SLEEP OF ARTHUR IN AVALON

Malcolm Bell, Sir Edward Burne Jones, A Record and Review, London, 1899, illustrated p. 127 

The present work is a drapery study for the seated figures at the center of Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones monumental The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon (110 by 256 in.; 279 by 650 cm, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico). The artist spent seventeen years working on the complex narrative, even moving his studio to a larger space to accommodate the canvas. Born as a commission from his patron George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle, to decorate a wall in his library at Naworth Castle, The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon was left unfinished in Burne-Jones’ studio upon his death. The work was bequeathed to a studio neighbor whose descendants sold it at auction in 1963, where it was purchased by Luis A. Ferré, politician and founder of the Museo de Arte de Ponce.