A Peacock

Edward Burne-Jones's 'A Peacock' (1886) is a decorative natural subject from the painter who was deeply engaged with the aesthetic possibilities of the peacock — the bird's extraordinary visual character (its iridescent tail, its arrogant bearing, and its association with both beauty and vanity) made it a central motif in the Aesthetic Movement to which Burne-Jones was closely connected. The peacock appeared in the decorative work of Whistler, Liberty's patterns, and throughout the aesthetic interiors of the period, and Burne-Jones's peacock subject engaged with this broader aesthetic culture.

Burne-Jones renders the peacock with the close, passionate attention to color and form that the bird's extraordinary visual character demanded — the iridescent tail's complex pattern of eyes, the specific quality of the plumage's blues and greens, and the bird's characteristic bearing all depicted with his characteristic jewel-like palette. His technique for the peacock's tail creates surfaces of extraordinary chromatic richness that complemented the aesthetic context in which he worked.