The Wedding of Psyche 1895

Editor: Edward Burne-Jones' "The Wedding of Psyche," created in 1895 using oil paints, presents a procession of figures with muted colors that lends the scene a dreamlike quality. What socio-cultural currents shaped such a depiction of this classical narrative? Curator: The Pre-Raphaelites, including Burne-Jones, consciously rejected the industrial era's values by revisiting pre-Renaissance artistic styles and mythic themes. Their art reflected a desire to create beauty and spirituality within a society increasingly shaped by rationalism and material concerns. What do you make of the specific representation of women in the composition? Editor: They seem ethereal, almost otherworldly. Their downcast eyes and flowing garments give them a sense of remove, as if they're not entirely present in our world. It feels different from a lot of other depictions of women from the period. Curator: Precisely. It challenged the dominant Victorian ideals of domesticity by presenting female figures rooted in myth and allegory. These representations critiqued the limited roles afforded to women in Victorian society. How do you think viewers at the time reacted to that? Editor: I imagine it might have been seen as a retreat from contemporary issues, or perhaps even a subtle form of rebellion by idealizing an alternate femininity removed from the everyday struggles of Victorian life. Curator: Exactly! Burne-Jones sought to create images divorced from modern vulgarity, but these are inseparable from public reception. Their "beauty" and moral authority came at the expense of active public lives, illustrating tension between idealism and social reality in Victorian art. What do you take away from this? Editor: I hadn’t really considered the push and pull between the Pre-Raphaelites and the broader social context. Understanding their relationship with contemporary social issues clarifies what was at stake in these types of mythic depictions. Curator: Precisely. Examining artworks like “The Wedding of Psyche” gives us a richer understanding of the Victorian era’s anxieties and aspirations regarding art's role in public and private life.