Cupid's Hunting Fields by Edward Burne-Jones - 1880 - 99.7 x 76.5 cm Delaware Art Museum Cupid's Hunting Fields by Edward Burne-Jones - 1880 - 99.7 x 76.5 cm Delaware Art Museum

Cupid's Hunting Fields

Oil and gold paint on gesso relief on mahogany panel • 99.7 x 76.5 cm
  • Edward Burne-Jones - 28 August 1833 - 17 June 1898 Edward Burne-Jones 1880

Today we have something unexpected for you. This masterpiece shows a scene where a blindfolded Cupid is shooting arrows at his female victims. It is a fascinating combination of painting and sculpture. The technique, in which gesso is built up on a flat panel to create a relief image and then decorated with oil and gold paint, is quite unusual. The combination of media is reflective of the close relationship between fine and decorative arts fostered by the Arts and Crafts Movement. Burne-Jones was active as a designer for Morris and Company, and in fact created a set of tiles and a tapestry in which the same subject is featured.