Princess Sabra

1864

“The Merciful Knight” at the Old Water-Colour Society

Elected an associate of the Society of Painters in Water-Colours (the “Old Water-Colour Society”), he exhibited there, among other works, “The Merciful Knight”, the first picture that fully revealed his ripened personality as an artist. The next six years saw a series of fine watercolours at the same gallery.

winter 1864

Death of his newborn son Christopher

In the winter of 1864 Georgiana fell gravely ill with scarlet fever and gave birth to a second son, Christopher, who died soon afterwards. The family then moved to 41 Kensington Square, where their daughter Margaret was born in 1866.

1864

Son born: Christopher Burne-Jones

1866

Meets Maria Zambaco

Mrs Cassavetti commissioned him to paint her daughter, Maria Zambaco, in “Cupid Finding Psyche”; the introduction led to a passionate affair, described as the “emotional climax of his life”. It ended with Maria trying to kill herself by throwing herself into Regent’s Canal.

1866

Daughter born: Margaret Burne-Jones

1867

Moves to the Grange in Fulham

The family settled at the Grange, an 18th-century house set in a garden at North End, Fulham. When he was later made a baronet, his title was “of Rottingdean and of the Grange”.