One of a series of four paintings was based on an episode from William Morris' cycle of epic poems, 'The Earthly Paradise'.
The oil paintings in Birmingham's collection, comprise the second series of Pygmalion and the Image. Most scholars agree, based on an excerpt from Georgiana Burne-Jones's 'Memorials', that the head of Pygmalion in Series Two was modelled by W A S Benson in the 1870s. While Antonio Corsi sat as the model for Series One. In Series One, there are four sculptural figures in the background representing the Four Seasons or Horae; in Series Two, there are only three, now the Three Graces. The first series is currently in the collection of Lord Lloyd-Webber.
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