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The Golden Stairs
Edward Burne-Jones · Symbolism & Art Nouveau
- Artist
- Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833–1898)
- Date
- 1880
- Dimensions
- 269.2 x 116.8 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Tate Britain, London, United Kingdom
The Golden Stairs shows eighteen young women in flowing white and silvery robes descending a curving staircase, carrying musical instruments, as if in a slow, silent procession leading from nowhere to nowhere.
A closer look
There is no story here, only rhythm, harmony and mood. The women, barefoot, with similar pale faces and auburn hair, move in a graceful spiral, their drapery falling in soft folds. Some carry trumpets, cymbals, lutes or tambourines, but none plays. Above, doves perch on the roof, and through a doorway at the top a glimpse of sky can be seen. Burne-Jones wanted to create a painting that worked like music, appealing to the senses and emotions rather than to the intellect. The models were young women from his circle of friends and family.
More by Edward Burne-Jones
Famous works elsewhere
- The Beguiling of Merlin 1872
- King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid 1884
- Hope 1896