Edward Burne-Jones
The Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale about a princess cursed by an evil fairy to sleep for a hundred years before being awoken by a handsome prince. A good fairy, knowing the princess would be frightened if alone when she wakes, uses her wand to put every living person and animal in the palace and forest asleep, to waken when the princess does. The earliest known version of the tale is found in the narrative Perceforest, written between 1330 and 1344. In the Burne-Jones's painting the princess is dressed in white and lies on a draped couch with three of her ladies asleep on the petal-covered floor. The figure on the right holds a lyre with broken strings. When asked why he had not shown Sleeping Beauty awakening, Burne-Jones replied, “I want it to stop with the princess asleep and tell no more, to leave all the afterwards to the invention and imagination of people.”
I always wondered if she really wanted to be awakened. Maybe the handsome prince wasn't worth interrupting her sleep? But the rest of their story isn't told, except of the classic "they lived happily ever after" ... but to be honest, it's not very descriptive. :)
Have a great Monday!
P.S. Edward Burne-Jones is associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, who, as you already know, drew inspiration from the fairy tales and Arthurian legends, but also literature and poetry. Here are 10 things you should know about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
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