A MASTERPIECE of British art can now be seen in south Warwickshire.
The painting ‘Love Among the Ruins’ by Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones is one of the National Trust’s most treasured works of art.
And it is now on display at National Trust property Upton House near Kineton, until early next year, having recently been on loan to a gallery in Italy.
The 19th century painting features two lovers seated among the decaying ruins of a building overgrown with roses and was inspired by the title of Robert Browning’s poem of the same name.g
Completed in 1894, the oil composition is a copy of the original watercolour version, which was damaged, and was painted by Burne-Jones shortly before he died in 1898. It is considered to be one of the most important examples of the artist’s work as well as one of the finest in the collection of the Pre-Raphaelite era.
Upton House curator Michelle Leake said: “We are delighted to welcome this important piece to our collection here at Upton House and we’re excited for visitors to have the opportunity to view this much-loved painting.
“The original watercolour composition holds significant emotional charge and clearly meant a lot to Burne-Jones himself for him to painstakingly recreate it.
“Painted shortly after Burne-Jones’s passionate affair with Greek artist and sculptor Marie Zambaco, who had become his muse, the sombre scene appears to show the couple’s love is a potent force in an otherwise crumbling civilisation.”
The painting was originally bought by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, whose family seat was Upton House, in 1913.
It is on temporary display at Upton House while conservation work takes place at its usual home, Wightwick Manor, which is also cared for by the National Trust.
Visit nationaltrust.org.uk/upton-house-and-gardens for further details.
