Seventeen beautiful sirens going down Golden Stairs, 1880, Pre-Raphaelites, Oil painting (Giclee print) Artist: Edward Burne-Jones. Size of the wooden frame: 15.5 inch x 29 inch. Canvas: 9.5 x 23 inches; Weight: 2 kg 980 g = 6 lb. 9 oz. The Golden Stairs is one of the best-known paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones. It was begun in 1876 and was exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1880.[1][2] Unlike many of Burne-Jones's works, The Golden Stairs is not based on a literary source. It has been called Symbolist,[3] as it has no recognizable narrative, but rather sets a mood. It is a harmony of color in the tradition of the Aesthetic works of the 1860s and 1870s, as a group of young women carrying musical instruments descend a spiraling staircase, dressed in classically inspired robes in tones of white, shading to gold and silver.[4][5] Critic F. G. Stephens wrote in The Athenaeum that the musicians "troop past like spirits in an enchanted dream ... whither they go, who they are, there is nothing to tell".[6] The Golden Stairs was one of many paintings Burne-Jones sketched out in 1872 following a trip to Italy. He began work on the canvas in 1876 and finished it in great haste in April 1880, just days before the Grosvenor Gallery exhibition was to open. Stephens found in the painting, echoes of the work of Piero della Francesca, whose frescoes Burne-Jones had seen and copied in 1871.[5] The figures of the musicians were drawn from professional models, but the heads are young women of Burne-Jones's circle.[1] Some identifications have been made as follows. His daughter Margaret is fourth from top, holding a trumpet.[7] Edith Gellibrand, known also by the stage name Edith Chester, has been considered as the model for seventh from top, seen stooping.[8] May Morris, daughter of William Morris, is ninth from top, holding a violin. Frances Graham, later known as Lady Horner, daughter of William Graham, is bottom left, holding cymbals.[7] Standing behind her on the stairs is Mary Gladstone, daughter of William Gladstone.[9] Others include Laura Tennant, later known as Laura Lyttelton, and Mary Stuart-Wortley, later Lady Lovelace.[1] The central portion of the staircase is an error in foreshortening inasmuch as three of the "steps" appear to be vertical drops without anywhere to place one's feet. The painting was purchased by Cyril Flower (1843–1907), later Lord Battersea, a politician and art patron, and was bequeathed by him to the Tate Gallery, where it remains.[1][2] BIOGRAPHY: Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet (28 August 1833 – 17 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter.[2] Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co in the design of decorative arts.[3] His early paintings show the influence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, but by 1870 he had developed his own style. In 1877, he exhibited eight oil paintings at the Grosvenor Gallery, a new rival to the Royal Academy of Arts. These included The Beguiling of Merlin. The timing was right and he was taken up as a herald and star of the new Aesthetic Movement. In the studio of Morris and Co. Burne-Jones worked as a designer of a wide range of crafts including ceramic tiles, Jewellery, tapestries, and mosaics. Among his most significant and lasting designs are those for stained glass windows the production of which was a revived craft during the 19th century. His designs are still to be found in churches across the UK, with examples in the US and Australia. Bibliography: • MacCarthy, Fiona (2011). The Last Pre-Raphaelite: Edward Burne-Jones and the Victorian Imagination. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-22861-4. • Marcus, Penelope, ed. (1975). Burne-Jones: The paintings, graphic and decorative work of Sir Edward Burne-Jones 1833–98. London: Arts Council of Great Britain. ISBN 0-7287-0073-5. • Wood, Christopher (1997). Burne-Jones. Phoenix Illustrated. ISBN 9780753807279. • Wildman, Stephen; Christian, John (1998). Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0-87099-859-5.