In the Perseus cycle, the masterpiece of his late career, the pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898) idealized myth in a way that was characteristic for his aesthetic: his three Graeae are not ugly, but young and attractive; even the horrible head of Medusa has classically beautiful features. Inspired by The Earthly Paradise, a book of poetry written in 1868 by his artist friend William Morris, Burne-Jones blended themes from antiquity with medieval-style forms, thus creating an ideal age that offered a counterbalance to everyday life in late Victorian England during the Industrial Revolution.

Burne-Jones’s concept of an artistically influenced, aestheticized living space is the focus of this monograph. Besides his narrative cycles, such as Perseus, Amor and Psyche, and St. George, the book also features designs for carpets, stained-glass windows, and furniture; book illustrations; and other arts-and-crafts objects—all part of his oeuvre. (German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-2516-3)

Exhibition schedule: Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, October 24, 2009–February 7, 2010 Kunstmuseum Bern, March 18–July 25, 2010