The Mill (Burne-Jones)

Painting by Edward Burne-Jones

The Mill

Artist| Sir Edward Burne-Jones
Completion date| 1882
Medium| Oil on canvas
Dimensions| 91 cm × 197 cm (36 in × 78 in)[1]
Location| Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Mill is an Aesthetic Movement, Renaissance-inspired oil on canvas painting completed by the English painter Edward Burne-Jones in 1882. It depicts three dancing women and a musician in front of a mill pond on a summer evening, with several nude men and a wooded landscape in the background. The painting is 91 centimetres (36 in) in height, and 197 centimetres (78 in) in width.[1]

Edward Burne-Jones took twelve years to complete The Mill, starting work in 1870[1] and completing it in 1882.[2] Shortly after its completion, the painting was displayed at an exhibition at the Grosvenor Gallery.[3] The Mill was inspired by The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, a mural painted by Italian Renaissance artist Ambrogio Lorenzetti between 1338 and 1340.[4] The dancing women in the painting were modelled upon women known to Burne-Jones personally: from left to right, Aglaia Coronio, Marie Stillman, and Maria Zambaco.[5] Aglaia was the daughter of Constantine Ionides, who, like Burne-Jones, was interested in art. Marie was a painter,[3] and Maria was Ionides' granddaughter.[6] At the time, Maria was Burne-Jones' mistress.[3]

The Mill is a vague and mysterious painting with no particular meaning.[3] It incorporates styles from the Aesthetic Movement and the Renaissance.[6] In the painting, three women wearing simple, Renaissance-style aesthetic dresses[3] are dancing in a garden on a summer evening. On the right of the dancing women, a musician of an indiscernible gender is standing under a loggia.[1][6] A mill pond can be seen behind the women.[6] On the other side of the pond, there are several nude men, who are presumably swimming. In the background is an unspecific landscape consisting of various designs and types of architecture.[1]

## Ownership

[edit]

Constantine Ionides bought the painting on 21 April 1882 for £905.[6] It is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London.[2]

## See also

[edit]

* List of paintings by Edward Burne-Jones

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Patrick Bade (22 December 2011). Burne-Jones. Parkstone International. pp. 33, 36. ISBN 978-1-78042-414-9.
2. ^ a b "Study of a Dancing Woman for 'The Mill' c.1870–82". tate.org.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
3. ^ a b c d e Kimberly Wahl (2013). Dressed As in a Painting: Women and British Aestheticism in an Age of Reform. UPNE. p. 84\. ISBN 978-1-61168-415-5.
4. ^ "Portrait of Marie Spartali, Mrs W. J. Stillman (England, c.1880)". leicestergalleries.com. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
5. ^ The Last Pre-Raphaelite: Edward Burne-Jones and the Victorian Imagination. Harvard University Press. 5 March 2012. pp. 203–204\. ISBN 9780674065796.
6. ^ a b c d e "The Mill: Girls Dancing to Music by a River". collections.vam.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2015.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Wildman, S (1998). Edward Burne-Jones, Victorian artist-dreamer. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Edward Burne-Jones

List of paintings

Paintings|

* The Merciful Knight (1863)
* Love Among the Ruins (1873)
* The Beguiling of Merlin (1872–1877)
* Pygmalion and the Image series (1875–1878)
* The Wheel of Fortune (1875–1883)
* The Golden Stairs (1876–1880)
* The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon (1881–1898)
* The Flower Book (1882–1898)
* The Mill (1882)
* King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid (1884)
* The Legend of Briar Rose (1885–1890)
* The Garden of Pan (1886)
* The Nativity (1887)
* Star of Bethlehem (1890)
* Sponsa de Libano (1891)
* Hope (1896)

Murals|

* Oxford Union murals (1857–1859) (co-artist)

Tapestries|

* Adoration of the Magi (1890)
* Holy Grail tapestries (1891–1894)

Related|

* Georgiana Burne-Jones (wife)
* Philip Burne-Jones (son)
* Angela Thirkell (granddaughter)
* Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
* Morris & Co.
* Tristram and Isoude stained glass panels
* Great Bookcase
* Maria Zambaco (model)

* v
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* e

Marie Spartali Stillman

Paintings|

* The Last Sight of Fiammetta (1876)
* Madonna Pietra Degli Scrovigni (1884)
* Love's Messenger (1885)
* The Enchanted Garden (1889)
* How the Virgin Mary Came to Brother Conrad of Offida and Laid Her Son in His Arms (1892)

Portrayals|

* A Vision of Fiammetta (1878)
* The Mill (1882)

Related|

* William J. Stillman (husband)
* Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

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