The Boiling Fountain and the Tomb of Lancelot the Elder: Textual and Iconographic Forms in the Construction of the Cycle in the Lancelot-Grail
Fabry-Tehranchi, Irène
The Boiling Fountain and the Tomb of Lancelot the Elder: Textual and Iconographic Forms in the Construction of the Cycle in the Lancelot-Grail - 2014.
59
The head of King Lancelot the Elder, Sir Lancelot’s ancestor who was assassinated by the Duke of Belle Garde, was plunged into a miraculous, boiling fountain, while his body, guarded by two lions, was preserved in a special tomb from which drops of blood with curative properties leached. On a textual level, the references to the marvels that followed the death of Lancelot the Elder in the Estoire del saint Graal, the Lancelot propre, and the Queste del Saint Graal attest to the construction of the Lancelot-Graal cycle, integrating a dimension that is both historical and genealogical. Yet, the iconography of the illuminated manuscripts of the Lancelot-Grail concentrate more on creating a series out of related episodes than on constructing a truly cyclical structure. Re-using composition and iconographic motif strengthens the coherence of the chivalrous, marvelous universe thus created, without necessarily implying a circular effect.
The Boiling Fountain and the Tomb of Lancelot the Elder: Textual and Iconographic Forms in the Construction of the Cycle in the Lancelot-Grail - 2014.
59
The head of King Lancelot the Elder, Sir Lancelot’s ancestor who was assassinated by the Duke of Belle Garde, was plunged into a miraculous, boiling fountain, while his body, guarded by two lions, was preserved in a special tomb from which drops of blood with curative properties leached. On a textual level, the references to the marvels that followed the death of Lancelot the Elder in the Estoire del saint Graal, the Lancelot propre, and the Queste del Saint Graal attest to the construction of the Lancelot-Graal cycle, integrating a dimension that is both historical and genealogical. Yet, the iconography of the illuminated manuscripts of the Lancelot-Grail concentrate more on creating a series out of related episodes than on constructing a truly cyclical structure. Re-using composition and iconographic motif strengthens the coherence of the chivalrous, marvelous universe thus created, without necessarily implying a circular effect.
Réseaux sociaux