Edward Burne-Jones and the legend of The Briar Rose
Edward Burne-Jones and the legend of The Briar Rose
Lecturer: Dr Amy Lim
Leading Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones was consumed for decades by his Briar Rose series of paintings, one of the greatest works of Victorian art. They tell the story of Sleeping Beauty in a mystical dreamworld that intertwines medieval romance, decorative craftsmanship and natural beauty. Their exhibition in 1890 caused a sensation, and artists, royalty and thousands of ordinary people flocked to see them. This lecture will look at these beautiful paintings in depth, and recount their creation, exhibition, and the magnificent setting that Burne-Jones designed for them at Buscot Park in Oxfordshire, where they still hang today.
Dr Amy Lim is an art historian and curator, specialising in British fine and decorative arts from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. She is curator of the Faringdon Collection at Buscot Park, Oxfordshire, and the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham, as well as being a Departmental Tutor at Oxford Lifelong Learning. She has curated and contributed to numerous exhibitions, including British Baroque: Power and Illusion (Tate, 2020), Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520-1920 (Tate, 2024) and Love & Landscape: Stanley Spencer in Suffolk (Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury and the Stanley Spencer Gallery, 2025-6). Amy has degrees in History, and Literature & Arts from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and has published articles and essays on a variety of art-related topics from gothic garden monuments to female patronage.