Grail Fresco

      

I’ve used Bembo’s illustrations for the Tales of Lancelot to produce a fresco along the wall behind the Queen, referring to the work of Botticelli, his great contemporary, for the feel of the faded paint of fresco paintings. (I love the Botticelli frescos in the Louvre, this one’s Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman, discovered in 1873 under whitewash at the Villa Lemmi, near Florence). I will use lead white to clean the fresco panels up and drop them back into the surface a little.

I’ve been enjoying the imagery of these illustrations while paintings them, particularly the panel which I’ve placed beside the Queen on the right, which has a servant draining blood from her arm into the bowl he holds – in this painting it works as symbolism of the self-sacrifice required of grail-seekers.

About pearce

Michael Pearce is an artist, writer, and professor of art. He is the author of "Art in the Age of Emergence."
This entry was posted in Arthurian, Folklore, Making work, Other people's work, Queen of Cups, Tarot-related paintings. Bookmark the permalink.

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