Danaë Watching the Building of the Brazen Tower 1872

Editor: This is Edward Burne-Jones's "Danaë Watching the Building of the Brazen Tower." I am struck by the contrast between Danaë's rich red dress and the rough stone and mortar being used to build her prison. What can you tell me about how the materials speak to the narrative? Curator: Notice the very deliberate contrast. Burne-Jones highlights the raw, unrefined quality of the tower's construction—the manual labor, the visible scaffolding—against Danaë's refined dress. Her isolation isn't just physical; it's economic and social. Editor: So, the painting calls attention to the class differences inherent in the myth? Curator: Precisely. It's a commentary on the social forces at play, reducing Danaë to a prisoner due to her class and her role within a patriarchal society. Editor: Thank you. I never thought about it that way, I had always just thought about the myth and not so much about the materials that went into the construction.