The Days of Creation: The Fifth Day

In 1871, Burne-Jones began work on the series of The Days of Creation. He worked on the angels off and on through 1876. The series consists of six panels, one for each day, with an angel at rest seated at the bottom of the sixth panel for the seventh day. The custom frame to hold the six panels was designed by Burne-Jones. The primary model for the angels was Jenny, William Morris’s elder daughter, although her younger sister, May, also appears in some panels.

In one panel after another, an angel comes to the fore holding a globe, rather like a large crystal ball. At first, only one angel appears, to be superseded by another in the next panel, and so on, until all six are present in the last panel. As for the angel at the front, each presents a scene associated with the particular day of creation: trees on the third day, for example, a flock of birds on the fifth. The scenes are to some extent mysterious, suggesting more than they show, except perhaps for the last one, of a pale and slender Eve, with a taller, darker Adam. In front of this one, a seventh angel is sitting and playing a stringed instrument - no doubt praising God for the creation. The conception is altogether worthy of the artist, and the globes add a thrilling touch of mystery or miracle. There is an inscription on the back of the panel: This picture is not complete by itself but is No. 5 of a series of six watercolour pictures representing the Days of Creation, which are placed in a frame designed by the Painter, from which he desires they may not be removed.