The Failure of Lancelot by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

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The Failure of Lancelot

The Quest for the San Graal

Sir Edward Burne-Jones

William Morris and Company

Before 1898

Tapestry

Height: 8 feet

Stanmore Hall

Source: The Studio

Scan and text 2007 by George P. Landow.

[This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose.]

The Arras Tapestries of the San Graal at Stanmore Hall

"Of these panels it will suffice to describe one which, though neither the largest nor the most conspicuous, is yet, in point of beauty, second in none in the set. The subject is the Failure of Lancelot. It contains but two figures. In the foreground Sir Lancelot is represented lying asleep, his back leaning against the stone side of a water-cistern, his feet pointing to the door, shut against him and guarded by an angel warder of the Temple of the Holy Graal. The angel's wings, blue as the depths of a sapphire, harmonise with the pale blue of his sleeves, while his white and yellow brocaded robe contrasts with the rich crimson surcoat of the mailed knight, whose limbs are encased partly in plate, partly in chain armour. . . . The whole composition is in a subdued tone of colour, with beams of strong light streaming through the chinks of the door, where they fall upon armour and blades of grass." — The Studio

Bibliography

"The Arras Tapestries of the San Graal at Stanmore Hall." The Studio. 15 (1898): 98-104 (text).

Last modified 12 June 2020