Pan and Psyche

£3,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

Engraved after Burne-Jones’ painting Pan and Psyche , completed between 1872-4, now in the Harvard Art Museum, and based on a scene in William Morris’s The Earthly Paradise. Psyche, following her rejection by Cupid, attempts suicide, and is saved and comforted by Pan, the god of nature: And with that word she leapt into the stream, But the kind river even yet did deem That she should live, and, with all gentle care, Cast her ashore within a meadow fair. Upon the other side, where Shepherd Pan Sat looking down upon the water wan, Goat-legged and merry, who called out, “Fair maid,Why goest thou hurrying to the feeble shade Whence none return? Well do I know thy pain, For I am old, and have not lived in vain; Thou wilt forget all that within a while, And on some other happy youth wilt smile; And sure he must be dull indeed if he Forget not all things in his ecstasy At sight of such a wonder made for him, That in that clinging gown makes mine eyes swim, Old as I am: but to the god of Love Pray now, sweet child, for all things can he move. The subtle tonality of this mezzotint is fully sympathetic to the dreamy aestheticism of Burne-Jones’ paintings, and provides an interesting counter to the Kelmscott manner, in the development of which this image plays an important role. Burne-Jones’ original design dates back to the early 1860’s when he and William Morris, inspired by early editions of Chaucer and Boccaccio, first contemplated the idea of designing and printing their own books.

• Year: 1887

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