Edward Burne-Jones’ The Days of Creation: A Celestial Utopia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v3i8.484Keywords:
Creation, Utopia, Angels, Beauty, SymbolismAbstract
Edward Burne-Jones’ cycle of The Days of Creation of 1870-66(Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Museums, Cambridge, MA) was highly praised and elegantly described by Oscar Wilde: “The picture is divided into six compartments, each representing a day in the Creation of the World, under the symbol of an angel holding a crystal globe, within which is shown the work of a day.”
This essay examines how Burne-Jones visualized an unusual celestial creation where angels holding magical spheres unveil the divine manifestation for the creation of a terrestrial realm. His The Days of Creation is an aesthetic culmination of the artistic power of invention, imitation and creation of beauty. Burne-Jones borrows the divine concept of world creation to formulate his own artist creation. Selecting God’s week of creation, he empowers a daily angel to manifest the beauty and power of divine creation. Ultimately, Burne-Jones creates a cosmic utopia, a mythical heavenly and natural realm, where angels design a world of beauty to be emulated not only by the artist, but also by most of all by the viewer.
References
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Pointon, Marcia, ed., Pre-Raphaelites Re-viewed. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989. Sewter, Charles. The Stained Glass of William Morris and His Circle. A Catalogue. London: Yale University Press, 1975.
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