Heady study of Love for 'The Triumph of Love over Oblivion'

The Troy Triptych, begun in 1870, was an ambitious project to tell the story of the fall of Troy which Burne-Jones never completed. It's characters and component parts, however, became subjects which he returned to as independent paintings. Perhaps the fullest rendering of the Troy Triptych concept is Fortuna; Fama; Oblivio; and Amor: The Triumph of Love, sold in these Rooms, 5 June 2008, lot 39. The extraordinary trompe l'oeil sketch of The Story of Troy at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery leaves the main section of the canvas scarce, but the predella quite fully realised, and these four figures are clearly visible. The present study, which John Christian associated with the Troy Triptych, appears to be for the head of Love, in the fourth panel of The Triumph of Love over Oblivion.