Edward Coley Burne-Jones; Days of Creation
06 Works, RELIGIOUS ART — Interpretation the bible, With Footnotes — 114
1 min readJul 27, 2019
Days of Creation, c. 1876
Six Watercolor, gouache, shell gold, and platinum paint on linen-covered panel prepared with zinc white ground
102.2 x 35.5 cm (40 1/4 x 14 in.)
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum
The five surviving paintings are now in the collection of the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, The fourth day has been lost.
The progressive days of the creation are personified by angels holding spheres in which each day’s act is represented, beginning with the separation of light and darkness and ending with Adam and Eve. As the series advances, each angel joins his successor, and the colors in the panels become warmer and richer as the universe unfolds.
Oscar Wilde: “The picture is divided into six compartments, each representing a day in the Creation of the World, under the symbol of an angel holding a crystal globe, within which is shown the work of a day.”