28

Tristan has a statue of the blonde Isolde erected. A prisoner of Morgane, Lancelot depicts his forbidden love with Guinevere. As he walks alone, Percival marvels at three drops of blood which remind him of Blancheflour’s complexion. These texts tell of the advent of an image according to different modes of creation and they sound out their nature, the modality of their presence and their temporal regime. Images are startling. They restore the lost proximity of the loved one, bring his memory back to fill the gap or have it experienced. However, if they retain Tristan, Lancelot or Percival, they also trigger the impulse of narration and writing which takes away the characters beyond them.