“King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid”
“King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid” is a gorgeous oil on canvas painting by the English artist, Edward Burne-Jones, from 1883 to 1884.
This painting is based on a sixteenth century medieval poem and ballad that was popular for centuries, known as “The King and the Beggar Maid”. Often sung, the poem was referenced by Shakespeare in five of his plays from the 1590s, including Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, Henry IV, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In the story, King Cophetua of Ethiopia was indifferent to marriage for some time. However, upon looking out his window one day, he saw Penelophon, a poor young beggar woman dressed all in gray. He immediately fell in love and demanded to marry her, saying if she would not marry him, he would commit suicide. She agrees to marry him and becomes his queen. The king and queen spend the rest of their days in blissful happiness and are much loved by the people.
The poem was reworked by the English poet, Alfred Tennyson. In 1842, he published Poems which included “The Beggar Maid”, along such masterpieces as “The Lady of Shalott”, “Sir Galahad”, and “Mariana”.
“The Beggar Maid” poem by Tennyson is as follows:
Her arms across her breast she laid;
She was more fair than words can say:
Bare-footed came the beggar maid
Before the king Cophetua.
In robe and crown the king stept down,
To meet and greet her on her way;
“It is no wonder,” said the lords,
“She is more beautiful than day”.
As shines the moon in clouded skies,
She in her poor attire was seen:
One praised her ankles, one her eyes,
One her dark hair and lovesome mien:
So sweet a face, such angel grace,
In all that land had never been:
Cophetua swore a royal oath:
“This beggar maid shall be my queen!”
This poem was very popular in the Victorian times. At a time when there was a strict and rigid class system in place, a poem about a beautiful woman who was able to rise above the class system based on her virtuous qualities to marry a king was well-received.
In 1883, in the throes of painting, Burne-Jones said of this piece, “to put on the Beggar Maid a sufficiently beggarly coat, that will not look unappetizing to King Cophetua, –that I hope has been achieved, so that she shall look as if she deserved to have it made of cloth of gold and set with pearls. I hope the king kept the old one and looked at it now and then“.
When Burne-Jones first exhibited this painting in 1884, it was received with critical acclaim. It was regarded as one of his finest pieces. In 1889, he was rewarded with France’s prestigious Legion of Honour title.
Burne-Jones was one of many artists to interpret this subject. In 1858, Lewis Carrol created a photograph he titled “The Beggar Maid”. In 1875, the art photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron, took a photograph titled “King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid”. In 1898, Edmund Blair Leighton created his own interpretation with his “The King and the Beggar-Maid” painting.
“King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid” is currently on display at the Tate in London, England.
For more on Edward Burne-Jones, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
