The artist Pygmalion has, naturally enough, been a great source of inspiration for artists over the years. In this painting by Sir Edward Burne-Jones you see an especially fantastic moment in the story, when the goddess Venus, on the left, brings Pygmalion's statue to life, on the right. This is just one in a series of paintings which Burne-Jones devoted to the Pygmalion story; this particular painting is called "The Godhead Fires." You can read a brief essay about the four paintings in Burne-Jones' Pygmalion series at The Victorian Web.
The first painting in the series is called "The Heart Desires."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAETmwGFQQjPFiBPAZlBZYT8MAhXlM6x9my6OjB3zzhdDjRVNCz-9GedqVr9eFh_x8oS9LPM_sSycXHKKuniGw9dzcZlhEVT2HkGCOmFaudY0snTb34_wq1BQ36wGTfxko_9skyKtXKwQ/s400/9.jpg)
The second painting is "The Hand Refrains."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oWdfcrbTM8wj8Db7hH01QVKPE9i6A7-2FrUGQMtEcMPtLYPEdsy5SuE0c9B6M7NpfuyPfZZBraj4FqcnLtR8JOK6lHlEnl7apQeQAcICYcT0xPdsEuusJjaPS4_jPwcJy8p04XZsAFA/s400/10.jpg)
The third painting is today's image, "The Godhead Fires."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUKmYFRAIYl7qBNfGBnUlMZCOC1YosVvwaoiWRIiYhnDW0BsEV9S6qo37OC6VQ6uVGG6yPGdxJpX7xhZBYCrYQVRMO5BjT1fO365SHiX9yYX47DP8cT6dSsezt1cPAnm87YW6ALkWnWI/s400/11.jpg)
The final painting in the series is "The Soul Attains."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Jq_TTZFhn41NaF3tcLpRxreJAc_a72NBy6bWgxYUcNccapB7KdxUpdylGphKlClKM2AspjX92iH12L5G0pUKaz6-iAHXQ-1hBg4pgNYtTWBqeIlJzNa60D3XUcSaKovYc6Qft_MEZ5s/s400/12.jpg)