Study for "The Sleeping Beauty": Head of a Maiden

Edward Burne-Jones's study of a maiden's head for 'The Sleeping Beauty' belongs to his celebrated series of paintings depicting the Briar Rose legend, which he worked on across the 1870s-1890s in multiple iterations. The series depicted the enchanted court frozen in sleep: guards, attendants, and the princess herself suspended between death and dream. Burne-Jones's distinctive facial type for female figures — long-nosed, heavy-lidded, otherworldly — was developed through many such studies, and these heads became a form of artistic signature. The Sleeping Beauty series became one of the iconic works of the Victorian Aesthetic Movement.

The head study is handled with the exquisite finish Burne-Jones brought to his figure work: the face modelled in cool, clear tones with the porcelain clarity that distinguished his women. Hair is treated as a decorative element with near-abstract fluidity. The overall effect is one of suspended animation — perfectly appropriate to the subject.