Sydney H. Meteyard – Illustrations for The Golden Legend 1910

Sidney Harold Meteyard  (1868 – 1947) was an English art teacher, painter and stained-glass designer. A member of the Birmingham Group, he worked in a late Pre-Raphaelite style heavily influenced by Edward Burne-Jones and the Arts and Crafts Movement.

A friend of William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, Meteyard worked across a wide variety of media from his studio in Livery Street near Snow Hill station. In 1890 he was one of the pupils at the School of Art to paint a set of murals for Birmingham Town Hall and he later produced works in stained glass, enamel and tempera, and illustrated a number of books including a notable edition of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Golden Legend”. He also illustrated the Roll of Honour, in Birmingham’s Hall of Memory.

The Golden Legend was first told in the 12th century. The hero of the legend was a wealthy man who was stricken with leprosy. He is told he can only be cured by the death of a maiden who is willing to die for him. A girl who belongs to the family of one of his tenants offers to die for her lord. In the final moments he cannot accept her sacrifice and they return home where the hero makes the maiden his wife.

Presenting one of Meteyard’s greatest work, The Golden Legend, beautifully illustrated in the style of the Pre-Raphaelites, Burnes-Jones, Watts and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Art Gallery: Sydney H. Meteyard – The Golden Legend 1910