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Source Description
Psyche, a mortal, has been abandoned by her lover, the god Cupid, in this print. The young woman steps sobbing into a river as her hair flows behind her. This image is one of the few illustrations ultimately realized from an early collaboration between designer William Morris and artist Edward Burne-Jones. Centered on Morris’s retelling of ancient myths and legends, the project was abandoned after they had engraved the illustrations for one of the 24 stories because the pair was unable to find a suitable publisher. The experience ultimately led Morris to establish his own firm, the Kelmscott Press.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
150538
label
Psyche Throwing Herself into the River
core
obj
dtoType
print
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
150538
contentType
print
title
Psyche Throwing Herself into the River
description
Psyche, a mortal, has been abandoned by her lover, the god Cupid, in this print. The young woman steps sobbing into a river as her hair flows behind her. This image is one of the few illustrations ultimately realized from an early collaboration between designer William Morris and artist Edward Burne-Jones. Centered on Morris’s retelling of ancient myths and legends, the project was abandoned after they had engraved the illustrations for one of the 24 stories because the pair was unable to find a suitable publisher. The experience ultimately led Morris to establish his own firm, the Kelmscott Press.
date
1865–68
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60754988
creators
24604
1399
genreSpecific
Print
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
to borderline: 10.5 x 8.2 cm (4 1/8 x 3 1/4 in.); Sheet: 13.2 x 11.8 cm (5 3/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
cul
England, 19th century
accession
1981.9
Source extras
tec
wood engraving
tombstone
The Legend of Cupid and Psyche: Psyche Throwing Herself into the River, 1865–68. William Morris (British, 1834–1896), engraved by Edward Burne-Jones (British, 1833–1898). Wood engraving; to borderline: 10.5 x 8.2 cm (4 1/8 x 3 1/4 in.); sheet: 13.2 x 11.8 cm (5 3/16 x 4 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland, 1981.90
series
The Legend of Cupid and Psyche
collection
PR - Wood engraving
citations
citation
Hepburn, Victoria. "The Kelmscott Press." IN <em>William Morris: Designing an Earthly Paradise.</em> Cory Korkow and Victoria Hepburn, 24-39. Cleveland, Ohio : Cleveland Museum of Art, 2017
page_number
Reproduced: p. 26, fig. 20; mentioned: p. 27.
creditline
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:46:12.432000
sourceId
150538
dept
Prints
coll
PR - Wood engraving
med
wood engraving
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
38c0223cea795dbc