The Knight Entering the Briar Wood
Datec. 1864 and later
Artist
Edward Burne-Jones
(British painter, 1833–1898)
Studio Assistant
Matthew William Webb
(British painter, c. 1851–1924)
MediumGraphite, pen, and brown and black ink on paper
Dimensionscomposition: 5 7/8 × 11 7/8 in. (14.9 × 30.2 cm)
sheet: 7 × 12 15/16 in. (17.8 × 32.9 cm)
sheet: 7 × 12 15/16 in. (17.8 × 32.9 cm)
Credit LineF. V. du Pont Acquisition Fund and Gift of Paul R. Miles, 1992
Object number1992-75.1
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextBurne Jones first addressed the “Sleeping Beauty” fairy tale in designs for a set of painted tiles produced by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company in 1864. The story was one with which the artist seems to have been particularly preoccupied. He returned to it repeatedly, culminating in the Briar Rose series, of which The Council Chamber is an example. Numerous preparatory sketches such as this one survive, conveying the artists’ infatuation with this imaginary dream world.
