King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid
Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale, ROI, RWS 1871-1945
Pen and ink
signed and dated 1909, labelled
13 ¾ x 10 ½ inches
Exhibited Coronation Exhibition, 1911, no. 3
The Coronation Exhibition (celebrating that of George V) was held in White City on the site in London now occupied by the BBC. The legend of King Cophetua, made famous by Burne-Jones's painting of 1884, was of the King who fell in love with a beggar girl, Penelophon, and made her his Queen. — Rupert Maas