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Lot Essay
On grounds of style the drawing can confidently be dated to about 1865-6. Whether or not it was conceived at this time for stained glass, the composition seems to have been adapted for the portrayal of the Saint in the south transept window in the Chapel at Jesus College, Cambridge, which was designed and executed in 1873 (see A.C. Sewter, The Stained Glass of William Morris and his Circle, Yale, 1974-5, vol. 1, pl. 413). The figure's pose is similar in both drawing and window, but her fluttering 'Botticellian' drapery in the former is replaced in the latter by heavy robes, giving her a graver and more formal appearance.
The inscription almost certainly means that the drawing was given by Burne-Jones to John Ruskin. The mid-1860s saw the climax of Ruskin's efforts to influence the artist's development. He was a frequent visitor to his studio, and nothing is more likely than that he took a fancy to this image of virginal innocence with Italianate drapery and was given it by his protégé.
There is said to be a pastel version in an English private collection.
The inscription almost certainly means that the drawing was given by Burne-Jones to John Ruskin. The mid-1860s saw the climax of Ruskin's efforts to influence the artist's development. He was a frequent visitor to his studio, and nothing is more likely than that he took a fancy to this image of virginal innocence with Italianate drapery and was given it by his protégé.
There is said to be a pastel version in an English private collection.