Friday Favorites: Chivalry

(The Accolade, ~Edmund Blair Leighton)

Some say that the age of chivalry is past, that the spirit of romance is dead. The age of chivalry is never past, so long as there is a wrong left unredressed on earth.
~Charles Kingsley

Chivalry. The word conjures up images of knights castles, honor and winning the heart of a fair maiden. Today’s Friday Favorite will focus on the works of Edmund Blair Leighton and John William Waterhouse, two amazing pre-raphaelite painters whose work is among the best classical art in existence.

The first image, The Accolade, is easily my very favorite image of the pre-raphaelite period. For me it embodies the spirit of the romanticism that we associate with medieval times. My brother and his family have a print of this hanging in their living room and, as I always do when I am visiting them, I spent a great deal of time looking at and thinking about this wonderful image.

(God Speed, ~Edmund Blair Leighton)

Gallantry to women – the sure road to their favor – is nothing but the appearance of extreme devotion to all their wants and wishes, a delight in their satisfaction, and a confidence in yourself as being able to contribute toward it.
~William Hazlitt

The romanticized, but no doubt unrealistic, view of the age of knights is fueled as much by these images as it is by the old stories of King Arthur up through my favorite contemporary fantasy tales. The idea of living life to honor God, king, country, and one true love may be outdated, and yet these form the foundation of some of the most fantastic literature in existence.

(The Charity of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, ~Edmund Blair Leighton)

Despite the fact that it somewhat derails theme of chivalry, I had to include the above image simply because it is a wonderful image. It not only has a very inspiring message, but the reds and orange in the picture are again colors that fairly glow and represent just how amazingly preserved these old oil paintings are.

(The King and the Beggar-maid, ~Edmund Blair Leighton)

This image has a Cinderella-like feel to it, doesn’t it? The noble man falling in love with a peasant girl and offering her the crown. Very romantic. It is another well-worn trope in classical and fantasy literature but one that hooks me every time.

(Tristan and Isolde, ~Edmund Blair Leighton)

The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one.
~Honore de Balzac

Question for those of you who know your stories, who is that coming upon the young lovers in the above image of Tristan and Isolde?

(Forest Tryst, ~Edmund Blair Leighton)

Forest Tryst is an interesting image. The name of the work and the presence of the two hearts carved in the rock behind the woman suggest that she is waiting to escape with her lover. The darkness of the forest and the man coming into the background with a bow in his hand gives the piece a very ominous feel. I love the big old tree with roots exposed and the bench formed by the rock wall. A slightly spooky and yet romantic place for two young lovers to meet.

(Lamia, ~John William Waterhouse)

Isn’t that image fantastic? I love the longing expressed between the two merely by the way that they are gazing into each other’s eyes.

(La Belle Dame Sans Merci, ~John William Waterhouse)

William’s version of The Beautiful Woman without Mercy is another of my favorite images. The woman pulling the knight towards her as he is helpless to her beauty. Love the colors and the detail in this image.

The following two images depart from the theme somewhat, but I really like them and wanted to include them.

(Miranda and the Tempest, ~John William Waterhouse)

This image is so sad and forlorn and yet is one of my favorite Waterhouse works. The movement of her hair and the water paints a picture of both hope and desperation. You know that her lover is probably dead and yet you wonder if he may miraculously appear to heal her breaking heart.

(Psyche Opening the Golden Box, ~John William Waterhouse)

If you don’t know the tragic tale of Psyche from mythology you can go here to read the details. It is a fascinating tale and Waterhouse’s image is beautiful. Once again the dark forest and the detailed folds of her dress create an image that is both haunting and beautiful.

That is all for today folks. Sorry I did not have the time to go into more detail about what I enjoy about each piece. Suffice it to say that these are two of my absolute favorite artists from any time period. Their work stands on its own and is the best argument in favor of their immense talent.

I highly recommend clicking on the links of each artist that I posted in the opening paragraph. Both have other works featured on their sites that are well worth seeing and all the images are much larger than I pictured them here. John William Waterhouse has 90 images on that site, many focusing on characters from literature and mythology. He deserves a Friday Favorite all by himself because of his prolific output.

Have a wonderful, chivalrous weekend everyone, filled with dreams and fantasy and romance!

19 thoughts on “Friday Favorites: Chivalry”

Really exquisite imagery, although I have to say I prefer Waterhouse. There’s almost a hint of Klimt in La Belle and Lamia. There’s a fluidity to his style that I prefer.Leighton’s are like snapshots from a story, whereas Waterhouse’s are almost alive.

Those are beautiful, Carl. Thank you for sharing. I have a print of The Accolade hanging in my sunroom. I got it years ago because of how much it moved me.

Thanks again for another good Friday post.

I absolutely adore pre-raphaellite. It’s one of the few areas of art I know anything about, being merely an uneducated teen. Seriously though, love it. Haven’t seen any of those before though, except Miranda and the Tempest. They did an exhibition on Light at my local museum a while back that had some exquisite pieces in.

It’s King Mark sneaking up on Tristan and Isolde, of course. 😉 Later on he’ll get a chunk of sword stuck in his head and everything will go to you – know – where. Pity, really – it’s not their fault they accidentally drank a love potion together.

Oh! Incidentally, Miranda does have a lover on that ship – but she doesn’t know it yet, and he doesn’t die. That scene is from the very beginning of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, when Prospero (Miranda’s father) raises the magic storm that’s to give him his revenge. Everyone on the ship is (because it’s a magic storm) brought safe to shore, but Miranda doesn’t know that and so finds the storm very upsetting. Doubtless, in just a moment she will turn and run back to her father’s cell to beg him to put a stop to it. 🙂

(by the way, Miranda’s future lover is a young prince who happens to be aboard the ship. He’s a good kid. I think we can safely assume that once they finally meet and fall in love they’ll have their happy ever after.)

Thanks for the ejumacation RB! I knew someone would know this stuff. Both are stories I haven’t read.

Good Girl! So glad to hear from you. I hope all is well in your world.

I can see what you’re talking about in regards to Klimt, FM.

Those paintings are so gorgeous! I love the one with the winged dog!

I was thinking, ‘winged dog?!?!?’, and had to go back and look again. I like that one as well.

You’ve been posting images of a lot of my favourite artists in your Friday Favorites lately. First Dicksee, now these two… can’t wait to see what’s next.

I adore Waterhouse – especially Ophelia (the 1910 one) and The Lady of Shalott (the 1888 one). He captures emotion so breathtakingly in all of his work, but those two pieces always stood out the most for me.

Such beautiful paintings. I am a big Waterhouse fan too. You have a great weekend too!

I was so thrilled that you did the Romantic period. I love the magical feel of this period. Also, I was thinking there was no way I could pick a favorite until I came to Psyche. How beautiful it is. I think I could live with this one, in spite of the fable.

On my 30th birthday I watched a movie, “Russian Dolls” where at the closing scene, one of the character was putting down the final piece to a jigsaw puzzle.

The jigsaw was the picture of “The Accolade” – and I spent weeks asking all my friends if they knew what the painting was called, and who was the artist. I was captivated by it, and couldn’t take it out of my mind.

The Pre-Raphaelite paintings move me in a way I cannot explain. They led to the poetry of Tennyson.

Nice to know you love the Pre-Raphaelites too.