In 2012 Burton’s Hellelil and Hildebrand, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs was voted Ireland’s favorite painting from a shortlist of 10. Yet he could still, in many respects, be regarded as a forgotten figure in Irish art history.... [https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/the-forgotten-artist-behind-ireland-s-favourite-painting-1.3267220] The subject is taken from a medieval Danish ballad ... which tells the story of Hellelil, who fell in love with her personal guard Hildebrand, Prince of Engelland. Her father disapproved of the relationship and ordered her seven brothers to kill the young prince. Burton chose to imagine a romantic moment from the story before the terrible end: the final meeting of the two lovers. Although he never painted in oils, the intensity of hue is similar to that of an oil painting. The precise layering of watercolor reflects his early training as a miniaturist. [http://www.nationalgallery.ie/en/Collection/Irelands_Favourite_Painting/Burton.aspx]