The Baleful Head

mythological

This picture is number 8 in the Perseus Cycle depicting the stories of Perseus. The picture, like other members of the series, draws upon the version of the Perseus legend that appears in William Morris's "The Doom of King Acrisius" from The Earthly Paradise. During his flight, Perseus uses Medusa's head to turn Atlas to stone after the giant refuses him hospitality.

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About the Artist

Edward Burne-jones

1833 – 1898

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones was an English painter and decorative artist. He was the leading figure in the second phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, and he was influenced by the art of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. His paintings of subjects from medieval legend and Classical mythology and his designs for stained glass, tapestry and many other media played an important part in the Aesthetic Movement and the history of international Symbolism. Although his works lacked the social ideals of the Pre-Raphaelites, his mystic, romantic images often represent a world free of industrialism. His paintings are characterized by the influence of Mantegna and Botticelli, but done in a subdued tonal palette.

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