ARTWORKS

The Golden Stairs

Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898)

Tate Britain

The Golden Stairs

Image credit: Tate

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Notes

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This painting is an example of Edward Burne-Jones’s interest in investigating a mood rather than telling a story. He deliberately made his pictures enigmatic and the meaning of this painting has provoked much debate. One view is that the 18 women are spirits in an enchanted dream. The painting might also be purely decorative. The underlying idea, popularised in the 1870s by the critic Walter Pater, is that ‘all the arts aspire to the condition of music’. Paintings like this can be as much about design as meaning.

Tate Britain

London

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Title

The Golden Stairs

Date

1880

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 269.2 x W 116.8 cm

Accession number

N04005

Acquisition method

Bequeathed by Lord Battersea 1924

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

date inscribed

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Tate Britain

Millbank, London, Greater London SW1P 4RG England

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Artist or maker

Edward Burne-Jones

1833–1898

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