Queen Guenever as a nun
Abbess, Almesbury, art, Arthur, Arthurian, Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898), convent, death, Guenever, Guinevere, illustration, J.M. Dent & Sons, Le Morte d’Arthur, nun, nunnery, penance, queen, SA, South Australia, Thomas Malory
This work was gifted to the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1960 by Mrs R.A. Haste. It is a line-block reproduction on paper depicting a scene from Thomas Malory’s fifteenth-century canonical Arthurian text Le Morte d’Arthur. Upon hearing of Arthur’s death in the final book, his queen Guinevere goes with five ladies to a nunnery at Almesbury. Here she leads a virtuous and penitential life of fasting and prayers, dressed in white and black, until her own death years later. The work was created by Aubrey Beardsley for a nineteenth-century illustrated edition of Le Morte d’Arthur, which was issued in 12 parts between 1893 and 1984 by London publisher J.M. Dent & Sons.
Beardsley, Aubrey
Art Gallery of South Australia
c. 1893
Art Gallery of South Australia
line-block reproduction on paper, 20.8 x 16.0 cm;
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English
How Sir Bedivere cast the Sword Excalibur into the Water
art, Arthur, Arthurian, Arthuriana, legend, legends, myth, mythology, Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898), Avalon, death, Excalibur, illustration, J.M. Dent & Sons, king, knight, lake, Le Morte d’Arthur, SA, Sir Bedivere, South Australia, sword, Thomas Malory, wounded king
This work was gifted to the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1960 by Mrs R.A. Haste. It is a line-block reproduction on paper depicting a scene from Thomas Malory’s fifteenth-century canonical Arthurian text Le Morte d’Arthur. Following the battle at Barnham Down where Arthur is mortally wounded, he commands Sir Bedivere (at this point the only knight left standing) to take his sword Excalibur to the water and cast it in, and then to return and tell him what he has seen. Sir Bedivere twice takes the sword to the waterside but hides it rather than throw it to waste. Upon his return he tells Arthur that nothing unusual transpired when he threw the sword in and Arthur knows he is lying. On his third visit he casts the sword into the water, and a hand appears from the water to grab hold of it. Sir Bedivere afterwards takes Arthur to the lake, where a barge appears to take him to Avalon. The work was created by Aubrey Beardsley for a nineteenth-century illustrated edition of Le Morte d’Arthur, which was issued in 12 parts between 1893 and 1984 by London publisher J.M. Dent & Sons.
Beardsley, Aubrey
Art Gallery of South Australia
c. 1873
Art Gallery of South Australia
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Morgan Le Fay
Accalan, Accolon, Art, Arthur, Arthurian, Avalon, Ballarat, Chrétien de Troyes, Christian Waller (1894-1954), Excalibur, healer, healing, keys, king, King Arthur, knight, lance, Le Morte d’Arthur, legend, Morgan Le Fay, power, shield, Thomas Malory, VIC, Victoria watercolour, wounded king
<p>This watercolour by Australian artist Christian Waller was gifted to the Art Gallery of Ballarat in 1933 by the Women’s Association. It depicts a woman in medieval dress whom the title identifies as Morgan Le Fay. Morgan Le Fay is a sorceress/healer in Arthurian legend. Starting with Chrétien de Troyes in the late twelfth century, she is often named as Arthur’s half-sister (by his mother Igerne). She plays a key adversarial role in much Arthurian literature; she is often depicted trying to expose the adulterous liaisons of Lancelot and Guinevere, and attempting to bring about Arthur’s downfall. She does this by using her magic powers to give Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, to her lover Accolon (while leaving Arthur unknowingly with a counterfeit), and by throwing Excalibur into the lake. At the end of Thomas Malory’s fifteenth-century text <em>Le Morte d’Arthur, </em>however, she resumes her healing role by taking Arthur to Avalon and tending to the wounded king. For a copy of <em>Le Morte d’Arthur, </em>see: <a href="http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/malory/thomas/m25m/" target="_blank"> <span style="color: #0000ff;">http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/malory/thomas/m25m/</span></a>. In the background of Waller’s painting are numerous medieval references: a lance, a heraldic shield, a helmet, a picture of a knight riding a horse, and a set of highly symbolic keys given Morgan Le Fay’s power in Arthurian legend.</p>
<p>About Christian Waller:</p>
<p>Christian Waller was born Christian Marjory Emily Carlyle Yandell in 1894 in Castlemaine, Victoria. In 1910 she moved to Melbourne with her family. There she attended the National Gallery Schools and won acclaim from a young age, receiving a number of student prizes, exhibiting her work with the Victorian Artists Society and featuring in illustrated publications such as Franklin Petersons <em>Melba’s Gift Book of Australian Art and Literature </em>in 1915. In 1915 she married fellow artist Mervyn Napier Waller. He lost his right arm the following year serving on the Western Front, and Christian supported him upon his return to Australia by working as a commercial artist. During the 1920s she became a book illustrator, and her work from this period has been described as reflecting “Classical, Medieval, Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau influences” (See Thomas, David, 'Waller, Christian Marjory Emily Carlyle (1894–1954)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/waller-christian-marjory-emily-carlyle-11944/text21407" target="_blank">http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/waller-christian-marjory-emily-carlyle-11944/text21407</a>, accessed 4 February 2012). From 1928 Waller started designing stained glass windows. This was an artistic medium in which she was prolific, and for which she became well known, during the 1930s and 40s.</p>
Waller, Christian (1894-1954)
Art Gallery of Ballarat
1920
Art Gallery of Ballarat
Watercolour, 33.3cm x 21.4cm;
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