- Artist
- Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt 1833–1898
- Medium
- Tempera on paper
- Dimensions
- Support: 262 × 258 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Bequeathed by A.N. MacNicholl 1916
- Reference
- N03141
Display caption
According to Greek myth, Sisyphus was punished for challenging the gods (hubris). They condemned him to spend eternity rolling a boulder uphill; each time he neared the top it rolled back. The downward sweep of Burne-Jones’s design emphasises the fruitlessness of Sisyphus’s labour.
The roundel was one of eight made to decorate a grand piano for MP William Graham, linked by the story of Orpheus - whose music charmed all who heard it - and his descent into the Underworld in an attempt to rescue Eurydice, his wife. The beauty of Orpheus’s playing caused Sisyphus to pause in his task.
Gallery label, October 2013
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