Sara Norton (1864–1922)

Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898)
London, 1884
Oil on canvas
43 ¼ x 30 ¾ in.
Bequest of Susan Norton, the sitter’s niece
1990.93

Sara Norton was at the center of New England’s privileged class, the kind of Bostonian equally at home in drawing rooms on either side of the Atlantic. Her portrait was painted by Edward Burne-Jones, a family friend and one of the most successful artists in England. He created it for Sara’s father, Charles Eliot Norton (1827–1908), a Harvard University humanities professor, editor of North American Review, founder of The Nation, and frequent contributor to The Atlantic Monthly, recognized as one of the leading minds of his generation.