In October 1857, Jane Burden and her sister Elizabeth, known in the family as "Bessie", were attending a performance in Oxford of the Drury Lane Theatre Company. Jane was noticed by the artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones who belonged to a group of artists painting the Oxford Union murals, based on Arthurian tales. Struck by Jane's beauty, they sought her to model for them. Jane initially sat mainly for Rossetti, who needed a model for Queen Guinevere.
Jane Morris had became closely attached to the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and became a favourite muse of his. Their relationship is considered to have started in 1865 and lasted, on differing levels, until his death in 1882. The two shared a deep emotional relationship, with Rossetti inspired by her to write poetry and create some of his best later paintings. Jane's discovery of his dependence on the drug chloral taken to help cure his insomnia, eventually led her to distance herself somewhat from him, although they stayed in touch until he died in 1882.