Article on Perseus Display for FOSMAG magazine

A piece of Ancient Greece within the City Walls

There is more history to this city than what meets the eye. I ask: how many citizens of

Southampton live their lives blissfully unaware that a jewel of ancient Greek history

lives amongst us today? An outstanding collection at Southampton’s Art Gallery

allows visitors to explore the mythical world of Perseus, a Greek warrior and lover

who defeated the strength of Medusa, and battled a sea monster in effort to rescue the

beautiful maiden, Andromeda. Hidden from the surrealists, modern art and the

sculptures is a secret wooden panelled room, displaying 10 gouache paintings which

depict the myth of Perseus and the struggles he endeavoured in order to win his bride,

and humiliate his manipulative future father-in-law, Polydectes.

The permanent Perseus display is contained within one room of the Art Gallery’s

upper floor. This particular display is so striking because it doesn’t follow the

continual running theme throughout the rest of the building. Here, the walls are not a

minimalist cream, nor is the floor smothered with a light, simplistic tile. Instead, the

walls are of rich, dark mahogany and the floor a dark wood. The ten paintings are the

works of Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones. The artist was commissioned in 1875 by

Lord Arthur Balfour, who later became Prime Minister in 1885, to create a series of

paintings depicting the myth of Perseus that Lord Balfour could hang with pride in his

music room in his London home. The task allowed Burne-Jones to creatively express

his most favoured themes: the conquest of good over evil and the triumph of beauty.

Burne-Jones set to work with his paintings, but due to worsening health and mental

fatigue, the oil paintings were never finished. Unfortunately, the collection never

made it into Lord Balfour’s music room, but they now have pride of place in an area

which heavily resembles the original music room. The wooden panels arrived at the

gallery in 1975, after being taken, along with the doors and marble fireplace, from the

boardroom of the merchant bankers, Baring Brothers and Company Ltd. The

paintings, however, arrived much earlier in 1934, and were purchased by the council

for the tidy price of £3500.

“This collection really is the jewel of our crown” said Tim Craven, lead curatorial

officer at Southampton Art Gallery. He continued, “We’ve had a really great public

response to this collection, particularly within the education sector.” It’s easy to

understand why, when viewing these breath-taking

pieces of art. The 10 pieces illustrate Perseus’ journey

to the edges of the world, in a quest to kill the Gorgon

Medusa, and take her head back to the indulgent feast

of his future father-in-law.

Upon his return to the island of Seriphus, he discovers

the beautiful Andromeda tied to a rock, awaiting her

gruesome death of sacrifice to a sea monster. Perseus releases Andromeda of her fate,

kills the sea monster and takes her back to his island to become his wife.

The series was created during the sometimes difficult Victorian era, in which

knowledge of culture and intelligence was deemed an admirable trait. With the

revolution of technology came a secondary revolution of intelligence. The Victorians

decided to make all public galleries and museums free to the masses, in an effort to

encourage intelligence and wisdom. Lord Balfour himself was a leading figure in the

‘Souls’, a group of intellectual aristocrats who admired the world of artistic creativity

and ‘new intelligence’. Thus the timing of the Perseus project came at a time where it

could be truly admired. And the admiration didn’t stop after this social period. The

series has achieved global recognition as during 1998, as part of the Burne-Jones

centenary exhibition, the 10 pieces travelled to various galleries in cities such as

Birmingham (the birth place of Burne-Jones), New York and Paris.

Southampton is a city with a strong emphasis on education. Although thousands of

children have already visited and experienced the magic of Perseus, there are still

many children and indeed parents who may have never visited the collection. A visit

to the gallery provides an enjoyable and unforgettable lesson in ancient foreign

culture for every citizen, regardless of age. Plus, the gallery is free admission, every

day of the week making this an entertaining and truly inspiring way to spend a lazy

Southampton afternoon.

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