Herbert James Draper

January 8, 2008

Queen of the Tournament

Herbert James Draper (1863 - 1920) was an English painter during the Victorian era. He studied art at the Royal Academy in London and undertook several educational trips to Rome and Paris. He married his wife Ida, in 1891, with whom he had a daughter.

Herbert Draper specialised in paintings depicting mythological events — a very famous one being The Lament of Icarus. According to Wikipedia, Herbert Draper’s popularity “faded during his last years and nowadays he is almost forgotten” — I suppose the key word is almost.

In this painting, Queen of the Tournament, Guinevere catches sight of Lancelot for the first time during the preparations for her wedding to King Arthur of Camelot (my my).

The timeless love between Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere is one of the most popular and famous tales of Arthurian legend.

References: The Book of Guinevere, by Andrea Hopkins. Very nice book.

Posted in oil