Not on display
- Artist
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828–1882
- Medium
- Watercolour and gouache on paper
- Dimensions
- Support: 292 x 419 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Bequeathed by Beresford Rimington Heaton 1940
- Reference
- N05234
Display caption
Rossetti once described Malory's Morte d'Arthur as one of the greatest books in the world and drew inspiration from it for a number of his designs. Here he unites two scenes from the text. One relates to Percival, who achieves the Grail quest with his fellow knights, Galahad and Bors. The other relates to his sister who gives her life to heal a woman who could only be saved by the blood of a virgin. Rossetti shows the knights receiving the Grail before an altar. Beside them Percival's sister lies on the ground awaiting burial. The lily symbolises her purity.
Gallery label, January 2002
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Technique and condition
Watercolour and gouache painting with gum on wove watercolour paper. The image shows Sir Galahad and friends accepting the Holy Grail from a haloed female figure. In general the support is in moderate condition overall, but is discoloured and brittle around the edges. The media is in good condition, with no obvious fading of the colours. There is a gum glaze over areas of the paint that does have a crackle pattern but appear stable.
Katharine Lockett
April 2003
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