Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones painted Sidonia Von Bork in 1860. The painting is a watercolor and gouache on paper and measures 171 x 33 cm. It features a woman named Sidonia von Bork, the fictional character from Wilhelm Meinhold’s Gothic romance novel ‘Sidonia the Sorceress’. The novel takes place in sixteenth-century Pomerania, chronicling the crimes of an evil noblewoman named Sidonia who was ultimately executed for witchcraft.
The painting depicts the central character in a beautiful gown, capturing her beauty that captivates all who see her. This work also represents women positively in Gothic literature and Pre-Raphaelite art. The artwork is located at Tate Britain in London, UK.
Burne-Jones was famous for his visual storytelling through creative use of vibrant colors and delicate lines of Gothic figures portraying romantic idealism. He showed his love for medieval subjects through his paintings ‘King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid’ (1884) and ‘Pygmalion’ (1875). Burne-Jones was part of William Morris’s circle, aimed to create art accessible to people by implementing Arts and Crafts movement principles emphasizing traditional craftsmanship over technology. His artistic contribution made him one of Britain’s most important Victorian painters worldwide recognized for exploring tales that had been neglected during centuries but were culturally significant as stories humans pass from generation to generation.
