f\aB35 
 
 OEovtieil Hwiv^siitg J tag 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 FROM THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 Hcnrg W. Sage 
 
 189X ? 
 
 #a*&.wA itlwi/ot 
 
 3513-1 
 
ND237.A?2B35 n ' VerSl,yL,brary 
 
 ' he legend of the Holy Grail as set fort 
 
 3 1924 008 740 635 
 
 The date shows when this volume was taken. 
 
 To renew this book copy the'call No. and give to 
 the librarian. 
 
 HOME USE RULES. 
 
 All Books subject to Recall,/ 
 
 Books not used for 
 instruction of research 
 are .returnable within 
 4 weeks. 
 
 Volumes of "periodi- 
 cals and of pamphlets ■ 
 are held ia the library 
 as much as possible. 
 For special, purposes 
 they are given out for 
 a limited time. 
 
 Borrowers should 
 not use their library 
 "privileges for the bene- 
 "t of other persons. _ 
 
 Books not needed 
 during recess periods 
 should be returned to 
 the library, or arrange- ,.. 
 ments made for their 
 return during borrow- 
 er'sabsence.if wanted. 
 
 Books needed by 
 more than one person 
 are held on the reserve 
 list. ,. 
 
 Books of special 
 value and gift books, 
 when the giver wishes 
 it, are not allowed to 
 circulate. , ' 
 
 Readers are asked 
 to report all cases of 
 books marked or muti- 
 lated. 
 'Do riot deface" book* by marks and writing;. 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924008740635 
 
The 
 Legend of the Holy Grail 
 
The Legend of 
 
 The Holy Grail 
 
 as set forth in the frieze painted 
 by Edwin A. Abbey for the Boston 
 Public Library. With description 
 and interpretation by Sylvester Baxter 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 CURTIS & CAMERON 
 
 MDCCCCIV 
 
 I) 
 
Copyright ig04 by Curtis & Cameron 
 
 BEO. H. ELLIB CO., PRINTERS, 272 CONGRESS ST., BOSTON 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGX 
 
 Galahad's Attainment (from Tennyson), 7 
 
 The Theme in its Relation to the Place, i i 
 
 The Legend in Literature .... 26 
 
 The Artist and his Interpretation . . 35 
 
 The Frieze 61 
 
GALAHAD'S ATTAINMENT 
 
 as related by Sir Per ci vale 
 in Tennyson's Holy Grail 
 
 ' When the hermit made an end, 
 In silver armour suddenly Galahad shone 
 Before us, and against the chapel door 
 Laid lance, and enter' d, and we knelt in prayer. 
 And there the hermit slaked my burning thirst, 
 And at the sacring of the mass I saw 
 The holy elements alone ; but he, 
 " Saw ye no more ? I, Galahad, saw the Grail, 
 The Holy Grail, descend upon the shrine: 
 I saw the fiery face as of a child 
 That smote itself into the bread, and went; 
 And hither am I come; and never yet 
 Hath what thy sister taught me first to see, 
 This Holy Thing, fail'd from my side, nor come 
 Cover'd, but moving with me night and day, 
 Fainter by day, but always in the night 
 Blood-red, and sliding down the blacken' d marsh 
 Blood-red, and on the naked mountain top 
 Blood-red, and in the sleeping mere below 
 Blood-red. And in the strength of this I rode, 
 Shattering all evil customs everywhere, 
 
And past thro' Pagan realms, and made them mine, 
 And clash'd with Pagan hordes, and bore them 
 
 down, 
 And broke thro' all, and in the strength of this 
 Come victor. But my time is hard at hand, 
 And hence I go; and one will crown me king 
 Far in the spiritual city; and come thou, too, 
 For thou shalt see the vision when I go." 
 
 ' While thus he spake, his eye, dwelling on mine, 
 Drew me, with power upon me, till I grew 
 One with him, to believe as he believed. 
 Then, when the day began to wane, we went. 
 
 ■There rose a hill that none but man could climb, 
 Scarr'd with a hundred wintry water-courses — 
 Storm at the top, and when we gain'd it, storm 
 Round us and death; for every moment glanced 
 His silver arms and gloom'd: so quick and thick 
 The lightnings here and there to left and right 
 Struck, till the dry old trunks about us, dead, 
 Yea, rotten with a hundred years of death, 
 Sprang into fire : and at the base we found 
 On either hand, as far as eye could see, 
 A great black swamp and of an evil smell, 
 Part black, part whiten' d with the bones of men, 
 Not to be crost, save that some ancient king 
 Had built a way, where, link' d with many a bridge, 
 A thousand piers ran into the great Sea. 
 
And Galahad fled along them bridge by bridge, 
 And every bridge as quickly as he crost 
 Sprang into fire and vanish' d, tho' I yearn* d 
 To follow; and thrice above him all the heavens 
 Open'd and blazed with thunder such as seem'd 
 Shoutings of all the sons of God: and first 
 At once I saw him far on the great Sea, 
 In silver-shining armour starry-clear; 
 And o'er his head the Holy Vessel hung 
 Clothed in white samite or a luminous cloud. 
 And with exceeding swiftness ran the boat, 
 If boat it were — I saw not whence it came. 
 And when the heavens open'd and blazed again 
 Roaring, I saw him like a silver star — 
 And had he set the sail, or had the boat 
 Become a living creature clad with wings ? 
 And o'er his head the Holy Vessel hung 
 Redder than any rose, a joy to me, 
 For now I knew the veil had been withdrawn. 
 Then in a moment when they blazed again 
 Opening, I saw the least of little stars 
 Down on the waste, and straight beyond the star 
 I saw the spiritual city and all her spires 
 And gateways in a glory like one pearl — 
 No larger, tho* the goal of all the saints — 
 Strike from the sea; and from the star there shot 
 A rose-red sparkle to the city, and there 
 Dwelt, and I knew it was the Holy Grail, 
 Which never eyes on earth again shall see. 
 
The Legend of the Holy 
 Grail 
 
 I. 
 
 THE THEME IN ITS RELATION 
 TO THE PLACE. 
 
 A PRIME consideration in esti- 
 mating a work of art is that 
 of appropriateness to occasion. This 
 applies with particular force to a work 
 of decorative character. An easel pict- 
 ure or a piece of sculpture, created 
 solely with reference to itself, — that 
 is, simply to express the idea that 
 the artist had in mind when he 
 wrought it, — is to be judged solely 
 by itself. Should it not be in keep- 
 ing with its environment it may be 
 
12 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 removed to surroundings that agree 
 with it. But a decorative work must 
 take shape with reference to its en- 
 vironment. By its very nature it is 
 a part of that which lies about it and 
 into which it enters as an element. 
 Its function is not only to adorn, but 
 to interpret, to elucidate, and there- 
 with to complete, as foliage and efflo- 
 rescence complete a tree. For this 
 reason decorative art, in its higher 
 aspects, is the greatest form of de- 
 pictive art. By its unification with 
 its environment it has not alone the 
 individual character conferred by its 
 own attributes. Its own character is 
 amplified and enriched by the nature 
 of that to which it belongs and which 
 correspondingly belongs to it. While 
 it is subordinative in lending itself 
 to the embellishment of something 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 13 
 
 greater than itself, it is likewise ex- 
 altative in enhancing the quality of 
 the greater work. The quality of 
 the latter enters into the decorative 
 work, informing it with attributes 
 beyond itself. When we think of 
 Athens, we see the Acropolis ; the 
 Acropolis means Athens and the sum 
 of Hellenic culture. St. Paul's and 
 Westminster likewise mean London 
 and they incorporate with themselves 
 visions of the stupendous sweep of 
 England's history. 
 
 With such thoughts in mind we 
 may ask ourselves why it was that 
 the legend of the Holy Grail was 
 chosen as the subject for the dec- 
 oration of that particular part of the 
 great Library, which stands as a 
 visible expression of the mind and 
 soul of Boston. The artist, it seems, 
 
i 4 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 first had another subject in contem- 
 plation, and the idea of the Holy 
 Grail grew into his mind and pos- 
 sessed itself of him in consequence 
 of his researches in relation to the 
 theme first suggested. His original 
 purpose was to depict in a series of 
 symbolistic panels " The Sources of 
 Modern Literature," just as Mr. 
 Sargent had chosen " The Sources 
 of the Christian Religion " for his 
 theme. While investigating the sub- 
 ject and searching for material, Mr. 
 Abbey became more and more im- 
 pressed with the legend of the Holy 
 Grail as offering a motive peculiarly 
 adapted to his ends. This legend 
 appears to have inspired the oldest 
 aspects of literary expression in the 
 period of European literary develop- 
 ment that succeeded the classic. It 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 15 
 
 impressed itself deeply upon the 
 literature of France, of Germany, and 
 of England, and in English literature 
 its associations went back to the 
 Celtic period. Not only does it 
 take a high place among the sources 
 of modern letters, but it is so rich in 
 imaginative material that its motives 
 have inspired much of the best of 
 English poetry in the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 Another advantage of the legend 
 was the fact that it was practically 
 virgin ground for the artist. No 
 other painter or illustrator, — at least 
 in any work of note, — had made use 
 of the rich material which it afforded. 
 Mr. Abbey was therefore the first to 
 choose the story of the Grail as the 
 inspiration for an important decora- 
 tive work. 
 
16 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 The circumstance, however, which 
 most of all made The Quest of the 
 Holy Grail supremely appropriate to 
 the occasion, not only for a decora- 
 tion of the Library, but of this very 
 part of the Library, is one that per- 
 haps may not consciously have ap- 
 pealed either to the architect or the 
 painter. It often chances that in a 
 work of imaginative art, — a work 
 with the quality that makes it the 
 art of the painter as well as the art 
 of the poet, — a high attribute may 
 be conferred without conscious voli- 
 tion. What seems to be chance may 
 lead to some extraordinarily felicitous 
 end. So it happens that in the great 
 poem we inevitably read between the 
 lines and penetrate for ourselves into 
 the wonderful realm of mind and 
 spirit wherein the poet roamed. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 17 
 
 And there we share the treasures 
 whose beauty and whose worth he 
 strove to set forth by clothing in 
 words a few of the myriad thoughts 
 that thrilled his being. If not some 
 of the same ideas that perforce he 
 left unuttered, then what we there 
 find, when we follow his lead into the 
 mystical regions where his soul is at 
 home, are at least of their kin. And 
 in thinking these thoughts while the 
 minstrel sweeps his harp-strings, the 
 lurking tones that, imagined only, are 
 heard by our inner ear alone, make 
 the listener receptively also a poet, if 
 not a singer, while under the spell. 
 
 The Holy Grail is the symbol of 
 spiritual enlightenment : the wisdom 
 that guides men to shape their lives 
 to right ends, that their souls may 
 grow towards perfection, and that 
 
18 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 those thus directed may guide their 
 fellows in the same path. This is 
 the main function of human knowl- 
 edge. If it does hot train men for 
 enlightenment, the pursuit of it is a 
 vanity of vanities. It leads to evil. 
 Selfishly employed, the fruits of 
 knowledge poison the understanding 
 and debase the soul. 
 
 That this is the aim and the end 
 of the knowledge which comes from 
 learning is a truth that finds eloquent 
 expression throughout the beautiful 
 Library building. The noble legend 
 carved upon the frieze, so that all 
 who run may read, proclaims : 
 
 The Commonwealth Requires the 
 Education of the People as the 
 Safeguard of Order and Liberty. 
 
 But unless education means enlight- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 19 
 
 enment, it cannot serve that end. 
 Above the entrance the seal of the Li- 
 brary declares enlightenment, " Lux 
 Omnium Civium," while the two 
 beautiful boys that support the shield 
 bear the kindled torches of learning. 
 At the head of the grand staircase 
 the supreme talent of Puvis de Cha- 
 vannes depicts " The Muses acclaim- 
 ing the Genius of Enlightenment," 
 while on the surrounding walls are 
 represented the various sources of 
 the learning that the Muses foster 
 and that lead to enlightenment as 
 their supreme fruition. Finally, in 
 the Delivery Room, the place where 
 the people of the city receive their 
 books from this their great store- 
 house of the world's accumulated 
 lore, the exalted end implied in the 
 pursuit of knowledge by the soul 
 
20 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 that hungers and thirsts for it as 
 naturally as the body hungers and 
 thirsts for meat and drink, is fittingly 
 symbolized in the theme selected so 
 finely that it seems to have selected 
 itself, as it were, precisely for the 
 mural decoration of this very portion 
 of the Library. " The Quest of the 
 Holy Grail " signifies the quest for 
 spiritual enlightenment as pursued 
 through life by the righteous soul of 
 man, — the Grail, as we have seen, 
 being the symbol for illumination of 
 the soul through the wisdom that 
 comes with the right use of knowl- 
 edge. Hence nothing could be more 
 appropriate, nothing could set a 
 loftier standard for them that thirst 
 for learning, than this sacred legend 
 set forth in this place. By the very 
 nature of man this quest must under- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 21 
 
 lie every activity that makes for the 
 growth of the human soul. 
 
 The manner of approach to the 
 Delivery Room, in its enhancement 
 of the sensuous effect produced upon 
 the beholder when entering the place, 
 enhances also the spiritual impres- 
 sion of the work. The spirit of the 
 Library as a whole finds expres- 
 sion in the decorations of the stair- 
 case: "The Genius of Enlighten- 
 ment" and the various aspects of 
 science and letters that underlie its 
 development. There is an intensity 
 of contrast in the passage from the 
 elemental grandeur, serene and con- 
 templative, of the Puvis de Cha- 
 vannes decorations to the splendor of 
 this room, wherein all parts unite in 
 a rich harmony, orchestrally full- 
 toned and brilliant: the dark walls 
 
22 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 of carved and panelled oak, the 
 superb ceiling with its refined elabora- 
 tion, and between them the pictured 
 glory of the splendid frieze. 
 
 This intensity of contrast is in 
 perfect keeping with the conditions. 
 The effect is that of transition, not 
 culmination. In the staircase deco- 
 rations we have a generalization of 
 the subject. The simplicity of treat- 
 ment, the static calm, the strength in 
 repose, accord with the pagan spirit 
 of the conception, — pagan in the 
 sense of being wholly natural of 
 aspect. The phases of mental and 
 spiritual growth are dealt with as 
 something elemental, primordial, — 
 as evolution necessarily must be. 
 
 The change is from the abstract 
 to the concrete. The very subject, 
 the quest for enlightenment, implies 
 
THE HOLY CRAIL 23 
 
 activity, something dynamic, and a 
 corresponding intensity in the de- 
 velopment of the motif. With these 
 qualities splendor is consistent ; and 
 its employment accords with the fact 
 that the design of the room, being so 
 different from that of the other parts 
 of the Library, calls for a treatment 
 likewise radically different. The 
 room is the vestibule of the adminis- 
 trative department of the Library ; 
 therefore an abrupt transition in 
 architectural and decorative motives 
 is in keeping with this circumstance. 
 
 While the character of the room is 
 essentially that of the Renaissance, 
 in common with the building as a 
 whole, it is stamped with that aspect 
 of the Renaissance which in its der- 
 ivations is more distinctively medi- 
 aeval and is correspondingly akin to 
 
24 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 the Gothic spirit, while the other 
 aspects are of the classic. Hence 
 we have the spirit of classic Pagan- 
 ism informing the architecture of 
 the edifice as a whole, while in 
 this particular part thereof the spirit 
 of Christianity predominates. Very 
 fittingly, therefore, the concrete set- 
 ting forth of the quest for enlighten- 
 ment, as here symbolized, takes a 
 Christian legend for its theme in a 
 way that typifies the Church mili- 
 tant in the higher sense of the term, 
 — the spirit that arouses divine en- 
 lightenment in man through the 
 activities which energize his best po- 
 tentialities. The mediaeval nature 
 of the subject, together with these 
 other considerations, not only jus- 
 tify but demand a brilliant treat- 
 ment, — a work that shall be as 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 25 
 
 pictorial, and even as spectacular, as 
 the artist's imagination may invent 
 within the limitations set by the re- 
 quirements, by no means rigid, that 
 belong to decorative painting. Mr. 
 Abbey's fertile fancy, his exceptional 
 coloristic endowment, his whole 
 course of training and development, 
 seem to have peculiarly qualified 
 him for a task wherein his great pos- 
 sibilities as a decorative painter first 
 found adequate expression. 
 
26 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 II. 
 
 THE LEGEND IN LITERATURE. 
 
 JUST what was the Holy Grail? 
 The word, it should be said, 
 comes from the Old French "greel," 
 a contraction of the Liturgical Latin 
 "gradale" or "graduale," primarily 
 a book of offices in the Roman 
 Catholic Church, and in its obsolete 
 significance a broad, open dish or 
 cup, also a chalice. The modern 
 poetic employment of the legend has 
 re-established the word, in the latter 
 significance, in an enduring place in 
 our language. 
 
 The Holy Grail was fabled to be 
 the vessel made sacred by the cir- 
 cumstance that our Lord and Saviour 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 27 
 
 used it in dispensing wine at the 
 Last Supper. The story runs that 
 it came into the possession of Pon- 
 tius Pilate in some way, and from 
 him it was purchased by Joseph of 
 Arimathea, who, after the Cruci- 
 fixion, gathered therein the divine 
 blood from the Saviour's wounds. 
 Another derivation, ascribed in 
 legends of the Middle Ages, is that 
 it was the platter on which the 
 Paschal lamb was served at the last 
 Passover observed by Jesus. Yet 
 another account relates that it was 
 brought down from heaven by angels 
 and committed to the keeping of a 
 body of knights, who guarded it on 
 the top of a lofty mountain. Ac- 
 cording to the legend, the cup, if 
 approached by any but a person per- 
 fectly pure and holy, would be borne 
 
28 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 away and vanish from sight. This 
 account of the marvellous vessel led 
 to the Quest of the Holy Grail, 
 which was to be sought for on every 
 side by a knight who was perfectly 
 chaste in word, thought, and act. 
 The derivation of the term Sangreal, 
 for Holy Grail, from " sanguis realis," 
 real blood, through the circumstance 
 of its legendary office and the transub- 
 stantiation of the wine that it held 
 into the actual blood of Christ, 
 plausible as it appears, is now held 
 by practically all competent authori- 
 ties to be without any real justifi- 
 cation. 
 
 In a brief account of the first part 
 of the decorations, written when they 
 were shown in London, Mr. Henry 
 James wrote of the Grail : "Its ex- 
 istence, its preservation, its miracu- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 29 
 
 lous virtues and properties, were a 
 cherished popular belief in the early 
 ages of European Christianity; and 
 in the folk-tales from which the 
 twelfth-century narrators drew their 
 material it was represented as 
 guarded for ages in the Castle of 
 the Grail by the descendants of the 
 ' rich man ' to whom the body of 
 Jesus had been surrendered, where it 
 awaited the coming of the perfect 
 knight, who alone should be worthy 
 to have knowledge of it. This per- 
 fect knight is introduced to us in 
 the romances of the Arthurian cycle, 
 so largely devoted to the adventures 
 of the various candidates for this 
 most exalted of rewards. Incompar- 
 able were the properties of the Grail, 
 the enjoyment of a revelation of 
 which conveyed, among many privi- 
 
3 o THE LEGEND OF 
 
 leges, the ability to live and to cause 
 others to live indefinitely without 
 food, as well as the achievement of 
 universal knowledge and of invul- 
 nerability in battle. This revelation 
 was the proof and recompense of the 
 highest knightly purity, the perfec- 
 tion constituting its possessor the 
 type of the knightly character, so 
 that the highest conceivable emprise 
 for the companions of the Round 
 Table was to attain to such a con- 
 secration, — to cause the transcend- 
 ent vessel to be made manifest to 
 them." 
 
 The legend of the Grail had prob- 
 ably long been a fruitful theme for 
 the folk-lore of the earlier centuries 
 of the Christian era before its formal 
 incorporation in literary shape took 
 place. How far back the legend 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 31 
 
 goes cannot be said. Perhaps it had 
 been gradually shaping itself since 
 the early days of the Church. A 
 tradition exists that the story was set 
 down by a hermit in Wales in the 
 eighth century ; but nothing in 
 Gaelic literature, so far as known, 
 has survived to support it. The 
 tradition may have arisen from the 
 circumstance that when the scenes of 
 the legend were laid in England the 
 period was naturally set back in the 
 remote past, which would bring it 
 into the earlier days of the Church 
 under the Celtic era of Great Britain. 
 The first appearance of the legend 
 in literary shape was, singularly 
 enough, in the work of three Nor- 
 man-French authors at the end of 
 the twelfth century. These were 
 Chrestien de Troyes, Robert de 
 
32 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 Borron, and Walter Mapes, each in 
 a great measure working indepen- 
 dently. The story of the Grail, 
 begun by Chrestien de Troyes, was 
 continued by Gautier de Doulens, 
 Manessier, and Gerbert de Mont- 
 reauil, who thus amassed an impos- 
 ing epic of 6o 3 ooo lines. Walter 
 Mapes, or Map, was Archdeacon of 
 Oxford under Henry II., and is said 
 to have translated the legend from 
 the Latin into Norman-French. 
 
 The Grail romance gave to old 
 German literature one of its greatest 
 monuments in the Parzival of the 
 famous Minnesinger, Wolfram von 
 Eschenbach. This work, which in- 
 spired the Parsifal of Richard Wag- 
 ner, appears to have been derived 
 very largely from that of Chrestien 
 de Troyes. The Minnesinger, how- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 33 
 
 ever, claims to have drawn his mate- 
 rial from a poem by Kiot, a Proven- 
 cal troubadour, who is said to have 
 been inspired by a Moorish poet, 
 Flegetanis of Toledo. No record 
 to support Wolfram's claim has been 
 preserved, but it seems not at all 
 unlikely that his attribution is cor- 
 rect. 
 
 The first notable appearance of 
 the legend in English literature is 
 in Le Morte Darthur, by Sir Thomas 
 Malory, in which the story of the 
 Grail occupies five books, but is led 
 up to by much that comes before. 
 It was not until the nineteenth cen- 
 tury that the legend again appealed 
 strongly to poets ; and then there 
 were not a few who, first and last, 
 were fascinated by its wealth of imag- 
 inative material. Of these renderings 
 
34 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 the work of Tennyson, of course, 
 is by far the greatest. In Parsi- 
 fal Wagner has embodied to a great 
 extent his own religious philosophy, 
 uniting with Christian mysticism the 
 Buddhistic principles that had in- 
 clined him strongly to the idea of 
 a great music-drama based on the 
 career of the divine teacher of the 
 East. In the old romances, Perce- 
 val, or Parzival, is the hero, as Per- 
 civale also is in Tennyson's work, 
 though the saintly Galahad, of purity 
 unblemished, is a great figure. In 
 Wagner's sacred festival play his 
 Parsifal, the " pure fool," as the 
 name signifies, is of the Galahad 
 type, — the spotless youth who, with 
 his lack of contact with evil, is cor- 
 respondingly ignorant of the ways of 
 men. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 35 
 
 III. 
 
 THE ARTIST AND HIS INTER- 
 PRETATION. 
 
 IN his depiction of the Quest Mr. 
 Abbey might more easily, per- 
 haps, have followed the work of some 
 one author, — say that of Sir Thomas 
 Malory, as the first English source, 
 or that of Tennyson, as the most 
 famous. But he has very wisely 
 chosen to make his interpretation 
 eclectic. He has taken moments, 
 situations and characters from this 
 version and from that, and has 
 blended, fused, or differentiated 
 them according to the demands of 
 his art, just as the poets each and 
 all took similar privileges in their 
 
36 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 dealings with the material at com- 
 mand. The artist has therefore 
 made his frieze a work of higher 
 significance by adopting this proced- 
 ure, since it stands for the legend 
 in its totality. Mr. Abbey's concep- 
 tion has its inspiration in the great 
 body of literature that the legend 
 from first to last now stands for. 
 Therefore we have manifold aspects 
 of the wonderful story here repre- 
 sented in visual guise. Indeed, in 
 this, the first decorative presentation 
 of the theme, we have a work that 
 gives expression to the Grail legend 
 as a whole, as embodied in the va- 
 rious interpretations, from the first to 
 the last of the numerous versions. 
 
 The theme is set forth upon the 
 walls of the handsome room much in 
 the way that a story is told. One 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 37 
 
 feels it narratively as well as pictori- 
 ally. In the vivid splendor of its 
 coloring and in the animate mar- 
 shalling of figures, in the presenta- 
 tion of typical scenes and events, it 
 makes its appeal to the beholder in 
 ways similar to those whereby tapes- 
 tried emblazonments, hung upon the 
 walls of great halls not unlike this, 
 appealed to companies of knights and 
 ladies in the days when such advent- 
 ures seemed to belong not so much 
 to some fabled past, as to the very 
 age whose scenes might lie just out- 
 side the walls, or, at the farthest, 
 upon the thither side of the hills that 
 lay blue upon the horizon. 
 
 It is, moreover, the soul of the 
 legend of the Quest that here finds 
 expression, the soul that has informed 
 and permeated a literature which has 
 
38 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 run its course through the centuries, 
 — characterized by certain attributes 
 that mark it in its entirety. The 
 artist's manner is closely in sympathy 
 with the mythical and the legendary 
 spirit of the subject ; and yet it has 
 a modernity that, while held true 
 to the ancient and mythical quality 
 of the theme, brings its mysticism 
 and its symbolism intimately into 
 relation with modern thought. 
 
 The treatment adapted gives to 
 the consecutive panels of the frieze 
 the movement and progress of a 
 stately pageant that illustrates the 
 course of a drama whose action was a 
 profound reality to those who, in the 
 ancient days, sat and listened to its 
 story in surroundings that, as already 
 has been remarked, bore semblance 
 to those where the tale is now so 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 39 
 
 nobly pictured. May not this pres- 
 entation make the divine motive of 
 the legend, for many of them that 
 come to behold it, an object of rever- 
 ence as earnest, an ideal to be pur- 
 sued as courageously and persistently, 
 as in the days when it was fabled to 
 animate the knights of Arthur in 
 their quest ? 
 
 One of our best authorities upon 
 decorative art, Mr. C. Howard 
 Walker, the architect, and a master 
 of design, has well summed up the 
 quality of the frieze in these words : 
 " The beauty of its composition and 
 of its color, its perfect adequacy of ex- 
 pression, and the ability shown to 
 weave many figures into a harmoni- 
 ous whole and not to leave them in 
 isolated, disconnected groups, — an 
 ability that few artists possess, and 
 
4 o THE LEGEND OF 
 
 which was hardly to be expected of 
 the follower of any modern school of 
 art; the adequacy of idea, likewise 
 lacking in most recent work; and 
 the delicacy of drawing and deliber- 
 ate distrust of sensational technique, 
 — all mark it as a very unusual and 
 excellent example of mural decora- 
 tion." 
 
 In the case of a work whose scenes 
 lay practically in No Man's Land 
 perhaps the artist well might have 
 felt himself privileged to give his 
 fancy free range and thereby save 
 himself a deal of trouble by selecting 
 at pleasure his costumes, his architect- 
 ure, and his accessories in general 
 from the abundant stores of such 
 things easily at command on all sides, 
 and in a way that might best suit his 
 artistic purpose. The painters of the 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 41 
 
 Middle Ages and of the Renaissance 
 very easily settled these questions 
 either by depicting their subjects 
 in environments supplied by their 
 own vicinage and by the facts of their 
 own day, or by a not remote past 
 that differed little from their con- 
 temporary surroundings. 
 
 Mr. Abbey, however, felt that, 
 mythical and legendary as his theme 
 was, it should be interpreted by 
 observing certain historical facts as 
 strictly as though his work involved 
 an absolutely historical subject. In 
 this way the artist has achieved 
 throughout the development of his 
 theme a fine consistency that contrib- 
 utes very essentially to the sense of 
 unity which the beholder feels. The 
 latter, however, can never realize the 
 infinite pains that have been taken to 
 
42 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 secure this result, any more than the 
 hearer of a masterly symphony can 
 realize how the composer has worked 
 to fashion his wonderful tissue of tone- 
 shadings in order to produce just the 
 impression sought. If it could all be 
 set forth, — the ways and the means 
 by which the artist's sense of exacti- 
 tude has been satisfied by keeping 
 faith with the facts of certain definite 
 periods, — it might prove immensely 
 interesting and instructive. As it is, 
 probably by far the greater part of 
 the pains thus so elaborately taken 
 must ever remain ineffective for the 
 beholder except in so far as expressed 
 in the grand result by which the 
 artist has orientated himself, so to 
 speak, and has kept his work true to 
 a certain chronological unity reflected 
 in a finer artistic coherence. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 43 
 
 In adopting the belongings of the 
 Arthurian period as the basis of his 
 work, Mr. Abbey obtained the ad- 
 vantage of a definite point of depart- 
 ure for his scheme, chronologically 
 and historically. Although no be- 
 holder can fully appreciate the vast 
 amount of research which the artist's 
 studies have involved, Mr. Abbey 
 himself must have taken immense 
 satisfaction in his conscientious insist- 
 ence upon historic fidelity even for a 
 theme that in itself is not strictly his- 
 torical. All possible authority that 
 might relate to the subject, whether 
 historical, legendary, architectural, or 
 archaeological, has been carefully con- 
 sulted. The results find expression 
 in a multiplicity of details that, where- 
 ever perceived in the nicety of their 
 bearings, prove exceedingly interest- 
 
44 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 ing and instructive. This fidelity to 
 the sources of his material must have 
 been of unspeakable service in assist- 
 ing the artist to realize his ideals. 
 
 Every matter of costume, of orna- 
 ment, of architectural detail, has been 
 closely studied. To these ends no 
 pains have been too great to be taken. 
 For example, in his studies for the 
 panel, "The Siege Perilous," when 
 he came to paint the tiled floor of 
 the great hall where the Knights of 
 the Round Table assembled, Mr. 
 Abbey had great difficulty in finding 
 any work upon the art of the period 
 which he aimed to represent in his 
 picture. At last he heard that there 
 were some ancient Celtic tiles in the 
 great Germanic museum of Nurem- 
 berg. So he undertook a journey to 
 that city expressly to see them. He 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 45 
 
 found exactly what he wanted, and 
 quickly made the sketches for that 
 portion of his work. Possibly no 
 one would ever have known the dif- 
 ference, had he drawn upon his im- 
 agination for his design. But he 
 has enjoyed the higher gratification 
 of satisfying his own sense of artistic 
 consistency. For him, at least, there 
 would have always been an unpar- 
 donable blemish upon his work, had 
 he introduced, say, Romanesque tiles 
 from Italy where the subject required 
 a Celtic pattern. 
 
 In this way Mr. Abbey has visited 
 many parts of Europe in his search 
 for the material that might help him 
 towards correctness. In the second 
 panel of the series the designing of the 
 chapel offers a beautiful example of 
 the artistic justification for an accurate 
 
46 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 study of architectural character, and 
 particularly of architectural detail, 
 the representation of the crucifix hav- 
 ing been suggested by one of the 
 early forms in which the Saviour is 
 depicted with a beardless and youth- 
 ful face. 
 
 For his representations of costume, 
 which are exceedingly diversified, 
 Mr. Abbey consulted all the avail- 
 able authorities. In accordance with 
 information thus gathered the studies 
 were made from garments specially 
 made for the purpose and worn by 
 models selected with particular refer- 
 ence to the various figures. A typi- 
 cal instance is that of the bishop who 
 appears in the court of Amfortas. 
 The period represented in this great 
 panel is supposed to be several cen- 
 turies earlier in date than that in 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 47 
 
 which the knights of King Arthur 
 undertook their quest ; for the court 
 had been leading an enchanted, dream- 
 like existence ever since the spell had 
 been cast upon the castle by the fall 
 of the King. For this reason the 
 costumes of the many characters are 
 of a much greater antiquity. That of 
 the Bishop, who stands near the 
 extreme left, or to the right of Gala- 
 had, is the earliest on record in the 
 history of the Church, the mitre being 
 a sort of pointed hood of white cloth, 
 much like a monk's cowl, from which, 
 perhaps, it may have been derived. 
 In the preceding panel, in which a 
 bishop preaches to the knights as 
 they are about to depart for the 
 Quest, the costume is that of a much 
 later period, though one still com- 
 paratively primitive ; the mitre re- 
 
48 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 mains a cap of cloth, but in shape it 
 more nearly approaches the conven- 
 tional form that it finally assumed. 
 
 Whatever the view that might be 
 taken of the frieze as an example of 
 mural decoration, the sympathetic 
 beholder can hardly help being im- 
 pressed with the completeness with 
 which Mr. Abbey has identified him- 
 self with his subject ; how delicately 
 and how powerfully he responds to 
 its imaginative character, its poetic 
 significance, and how deeply he feels 
 its profound mysticism. He has, 
 therefore, made all his accumulated 
 wealth of scholarly and technical 
 resources but a vehicle for the ade- 
 quate expression of the real meaning 
 of the legend. In making Galahad 
 its hero Mr. Abbey has united and 
 blended in him the attributes sever- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 49 
 
 ally ascribed to the different persons 
 who form the central figure of the 
 Quest, according to various versions 
 of the legend. We therefore have a 
 very beautiful composite in the hero 
 that the artist gives us, formed from 
 the several ideals presented by the 
 various writers who have set forth the 
 sacred legend. We have the Galahad 
 of Tennyson and Malory advanced to 
 supreme leadership, and combining 
 the most essential traits of the Parzi- 
 val of Wolfram, the Percivale of 
 Tennyson, and particularly the Parsi- 
 fal of Wagner, together with not a 
 little that is distinctive in the char- 
 acters and the adventures of others 
 who stood eminent among the Round 
 Table's Knights, — as Launcelot, Ga- 
 wain, and Bors. In the Galahad 
 that Mr. Abbey gives us we thus 
 
5 o THE LEGEND OF 
 
 have a sum of excellences, — the pure 
 and perfect knight a composite per- 
 sonality, just as the great legend, in 
 its pictorial and decorative represen- 
 tation, has itself, as we have seen, 
 almost necessarily been made a com- 
 posite, representing the essential qual- 
 ity and spirit of the legend as a whole, 
 as it has stamped itself upon Chris- 
 tian literature rather than confining 
 itself to any particular version of the 
 legend. The career of the knight 
 who here becomes the chief figure of 
 the Quest may be said to symbolize 
 the experiences of mankind in the 
 pursuit of the noblest ideals, — the 
 difficulties that beset the seeker, the 
 temptations which he encounters, the 
 results that he achieves, in the quest 
 for their realization. 
 
 In the development of his theme 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 51 
 
 Mr. Abbey has been true to the 
 spirit of the legend as a whole in 
 the way that it has informed the long 
 sequence of its literature. In the 
 first place he has made his successive 
 panels a splendid succession of picto- 
 rial narration that the eye delights in 
 and follows purely from interest in 
 the story that thus unfolds itself, just 
 as listeners in the early days harked 
 to the tale for the sake of the stir of 
 heart and soul by the relation of high 
 adventures. The old writers knew 
 how to tell their tales simply, directly, 
 and movingly ; and Mr. Abbey here 
 enters into their spirit, just as the 
 architects entered into the mediaeval 
 spirit when they created the hall 
 which he has decorated. 
 
 But the narrational sequence, the 
 dramatic movement, led to something 
 
52 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 finer and higher in qualities that the 
 accretions of the ages have added to 
 the frank directness, the pure sim- 
 plicity, of the early manner, — quali- 
 ties contributed by the advancement 
 of thought, the achievements of 
 science. So the work is modern 
 in character as well as mediaeval in 
 spirit. As we have seen, its fidelity 
 in things historical and archaeological is 
 something essentially modern. And 
 while reproducing the soul of a past 
 that primarily is fabled, mythical, and 
 legendary, it likewise gives expression 
 to the soul of the present in embody- 
 ing the exalted meanings which it 
 reads in the sacred truths that have 
 been handed down for us. Hence 
 the work is likewise true to the 
 beautiful psychological utterances of 
 Tennyson's Idyl and to the pro- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 53 
 
 foundly mystical significances of 
 Wagner's lofty conception. 
 
 The artist must have found it a 
 very difficult task to condense into a 
 very few typical scenes the spirit 
 of the entire legend, with its enor- 
 mous multiplicity of incident, of 
 adventure, of dramatic situations, 
 and its not infrequent moments 
 of lofty significance. So many 
 of these things appeal directly to 
 an artist's soul that to choose one 
 particular subject out of many that 
 seemed to possess an equal interest, 
 and even to be essentially typical of 
 the legend, must have been some- 
 thing very hard to do. He has 
 solved his problem with remarkable 
 success. He had to be guided, not 
 only by the relation of the separate 
 subjects to the legend as a whole, but 
 
54 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 by their availability for the special 
 purpose of so presenting his theme 
 as to give it the necessary decorative 
 unity, to suggest just the tonality 
 demanded, to lend themselves to a 
 consistent scheme of chromatic nota- 
 tion, of accents and contrasts, of line 
 and mass, and of rhythmic groupings. 
 These requirements are fulfilled most 
 admirably in the fifteen panels, large 
 and small, of the frieze. For the 
 moments of splendid blossoming and 
 fruition other moments, — equally es- 
 sential to the theme, but distinguished 
 by restraint, by a holding of action 
 in suspense, by a reserving of energy, 
 — are likewise required to supply the 
 necessary balancing of parts : acting 
 as the checks, the foils, and the com- 
 plementary functions in the scheme. 
 Had the artist divided his frieze into so 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 55 
 
 many equal spaces and filled each space 
 with a subject of equal importance, 
 he would doubtless have lost one of 
 the most essential qualities demanded 
 for a work of the kind. He would 
 have missed the dramatic develop- 
 ment of his theme with its culminat- 
 ing moments, prepared for by other 
 scenes that expressed the onward 
 movement of the action. 
 
 To follow the course of the legend 
 through these diverse depictions is, 
 for the spectator, no easy matter 
 under the circumstances of the place. 
 But it is something extremely inter- 
 esting to do. And perhaps, — since 
 the decorative intent is so immedi- 
 ately served, — it is well that the task 
 should not be without its difficulties 
 for the beholder. A subject that 
 has taken years of thought and work 
 
56 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 on the part of the artist cannot well 
 be taken into the comprehension in 
 as many minutes. Those who have 
 little time to give may, indeed, sat- 
 isfy themselves with the consummate 
 splendor of the total effect and the 
 charm of salient parts. Others 
 should find themselves generously 
 repaid for hours and days of thought 
 and study that they may give. Reg- 
 ular visitors to the Library might do 
 exceeding well to follow out the 
 work in all the meanings they may 
 trace from day to day, while waiting 
 for their books. The influence that 
 the work thus exerts must be great. 
 From his use of a Celtic environ- 
 ment in these decorations it is mani- 
 fest that the artist has chosen the 
 setting for his subject that naturally 
 has been given it in the English ver- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 57 
 
 sions of the legend, as set down 
 anciently by Malory, and in the Vic- 
 torian age by Tennyson. Malory's 
 narration doubtless followed a popu- 
 lar belief when it laid the scene of 
 the legend and its high adventures 
 in the land that then had long been 
 England, but was a kingdom in 
 Great Britain in the days of Arthur's 
 reign. The Holy Grail, it was held, 
 had been brought to Glastonbury 
 by the saintly Joseph of Arimathea. 
 Thence the divine powers in charge 
 of it took the sacred vessel and in- 
 stalled it in a castle on a hill-top. 
 This became known as the Castle of 
 the Grail. The location of this 
 castle was most mysterious. Prob- 
 ably it was likewise held to be some- 
 where in Britain. But the Conti- 
 nental versions of the legend fol- 
 
58 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 lowed by Wagner in his Parsifal 
 located the seat of the Grail some- 
 where on the Continent, in the 
 Castle of Monsalvat. The knights 
 intrusted with the guardianship of 
 the Grail were obliged, by reason of 
 their vows, to be invariably pure 
 of thought as they were virgin and 
 chaste in body. Their exalted office 
 and their closeness to the Grail, 
 however, did not free them from risk 
 of imperilling their virtuous emi- 
 nence. 
 
 At last Amfortas, the Fisher King, 
 lineally descended from Joseph of 
 Arimathea, became the head of the 
 knights of the Grail. But Amfortas 
 fell from his high estate. Under the 
 influence of some evil enchantment 
 he espoused the cause of unlawful 
 love, taking up arms in its behalf. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 59 
 
 Cursed for this act, he and his court 
 were cast under a spell that was 
 neither sleeping nor waking; and 
 from this spell they could not be 
 released until the coming of a knight 
 pure in body and thought, as de- 
 manded for the office of a Keeper of 
 the Grail. The coming of this 
 knight would bring salvation to the 
 sorrowful company, freeing them 
 from their living death and making 
 possible at last the true death for 
 which they longed, admitting them, 
 with sin atoned for, to the glories of 
 the Kingdom. Meanwhile the Grail 
 yet abode in the castle, but their 
 eyes might no longer behold it. 
 Somehow the tidings of these things 
 went out into the world. It became 
 known that Amfortas and his knights 
 lay under the spell, and that the 
 
60 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 Grail was unguarded, denied to their 
 sight. So there began the Quest of 
 the Grail. For many a high-souled 
 youth it became an aim to live a life 
 whereby, through virtuous doing and 
 thinking, and a record of righteous 
 deeds, he might penetrate to the en- 
 chanted castle, behold the Grail, and 
 release its fallen guardians. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 61 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE FRIEZE. 
 
 THE treasure of Divine Wis- 
 dom, even though once at- 
 tained and possessed, is not thereby 
 assured as an abiding good for him 
 that gains it. It does not warrant its 
 holder against temptation ; the am- 
 pler knowledge that it bestows may 
 even enhance a danger of subjection 
 to the allurements of the adversary. 
 Perpetual vigilance, continual right 
 use of the powers that it bestows, — 
 these are the terms demanded for its 
 holding by men into whose charge it 
 has been given. And the knowledge 
 that the treasure exists and is attain- 
 able impels men to seek it. Thou- 
 
62 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 sands may fail, may fight the good 
 fight, and may lose it. Yet for them, 
 also, the Quest is well. Their pur- 
 poses have been set upon a lofty 
 ideal ; the light it has cast upon their 
 way has kindled their souls, has fed 
 their minds, and has strengthened 
 their resolves. The holy radiance, 
 in the measure that it comes to men 
 from its divine source, enables them 
 spiritually to live, and in turn to en- 
 able others so to live, without other 
 food for their hunger of soul. The 
 great allegory, thus interpreted, in 
 meaning becomes clear. 
 
 The First Panel: The Infancy of 
 Galahad. 
 
 The first panel of the series repre- 
 sents "The Infancy of Galahad." 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 63 
 
 In design, as well as in subject, it 
 very appropriately marks the begin- 
 ning of the history. With extreme 
 simplicity, with most delicate purity, 
 it expresses the beginning of an epic 
 movement that is to proceed with 
 ever-increasing momentum and com- 
 plexity until, at the conclusion, we 
 shall witness a return to a kindred 
 simplicity that represents the unity 
 of fruition, of completion, of fulfil- 
 ment, as this picture may be said to 
 stand for the germination, the incep- 
 tion, the prophecy, of the spiritual 
 process in the hero's life. 
 
 It is an exquisite presentation of 
 the vision of the child which comes 
 in the heaven that lies about us 
 in our infancy. The baby Galahad 
 laughs in supreme delight when he 
 sees the Sacred Emblem whose light 
 
64 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 is thenceforth to illuminate his way all 
 through life. He reaches up his tiny 
 hands after it, as it is revealed to him 
 by the Angel of the Grail, robed in 
 white and celestially radiant. The 
 very lovely young nun who holds the 
 baby is not aware of the vision, but 
 is somehow conscious of a great and 
 holy happening. 
 
 The color-scheme of the picture is 
 dominated by tones of white and 
 blue, with strong accents of gold and 
 of black. The angel has great wings 
 and robes of white suffused with a 
 soft bluish gray ; in the garments of 
 the beautiful nun the creamy white 
 of the drapery harmonizes finely with 
 the bluish black. The Grail held by 
 the angel is veiled with red samite, 
 and above it hovers a white dove, a 
 golden censer, lightly smoking, swing- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 65 
 
 ing from its beak, — the dove sym- 
 bolizing the Holy Spirit that informs 
 the Grail. The Angel of the Grail 
 is also supported by the strength of 
 the Holy Spirit, the wings of white 
 doves showing beneath the hem of 
 her garment. The background is a 
 simple plane that emphasizes the 
 simple decorative quality of the pict- 
 ure, — a tapestry of bluish tone em- 
 broidered in gold, with figures of 
 lions and peacocks between horizon- 
 tal stripes of a Celtic pattern, also in 
 gold. In Christian symbolism the 
 peacock often stands for the glorified 
 soul, — hence for the Resurrection, 
 or the change from life to immortal- 
 ity. It is notable that the Lion also 
 symbolizes the Resurrection, as well 
 as strength. In Buddhism the pea- 
 cock signifies longevity, and the lion 
 
66 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 means strength of purpose, stead- 
 fastness for the right. The light 
 from the Grail glows intensely upon 
 the face of the angel and against 
 her sheltering wings. 
 
 The baby hero, to whom we are 
 thus introduced, has an origin vari- 
 ously attributed in different versions 
 of the legend. According to Malory 
 Galahad was the child of Launcelot 
 and Elaine, daughter of King Pelles, 
 and of the blood of Joseph of Arima- 
 thea. It had been prophesied that 
 Elaine was to bear a child to Launce- 
 lot that was to grow into a great 
 knight destined to achieve the Holy 
 Grail. So Launcelot, by enchant- 
 ment, was lured to Elaine, that the 
 prophecy might be fulfilled. The 
 white dove with the censer comes 
 from Malory, who makes it fly 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 67 
 
 in at the window when Launcelot 
 first visits King Pelles. Again, when 
 Bors visited the king, and, beholding 
 the baby in the arms of Elaine, rec- 
 ognized the likeness to Launcelot, 
 the white dove came in, bearing a 
 little censer of gold. Thereupon 
 " there was all manner of meats and 
 drinks," and " a savor as all the 
 spicery in the world had been there." 
 The censer here doubtless signifies 
 the nourishing property of the Grail, 
 — the breath of its incense the mysti- 
 cal sustenance upon which the child 
 throve in body and in spirit. 
 
 The Second Panel : The Vigil of 
 Galahad. 
 
 Galahad had been given into the 
 keeping of a company of nuns when 
 
68 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 an infant, that he might be trained in 
 pure and holy ways. To their con- 
 vent, in due time, Launcelot was 
 summoned to receive him and make 
 him a knight. He found the youth 
 " passing fair and well made," and 
 "saw him seemly and demure as a 
 dove, with all manner of good feat- 
 ures." The second panel represents 
 the ending of Galahad's period of 
 training, — the passing of his boyhood, 
 with his entrance upon the active 
 phase of his great career. He is 
 about to leave his home with the 
 nuns, and has passed the night's vigil 
 in the convent chapel. Like the 
 fourth panel, the second depicts a 
 moment of breaking with the old and 
 a preparation for a great event next 
 to be pictured. Here it is an intro- 
 duction to the culminating moment 
 in the first stage of the drama. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 69 
 
 Galahad kneels at the chapel altar, 
 clad in a robe of red. Behind him 
 kneel Sir Launcelot and Sir Bors, 
 portentous in their chain armor. 
 They fasten his spurs in signal that 
 the moment of departure has arrived, 
 with its beginning of life in the 
 world. Galahad's helmet lies at his 
 knees. The two candles at the altar 
 have burned nearly to their sockets. 
 At the distant windows in the upper 
 left-hand corner the roseate light of 
 dawn steals into the low and vaulted 
 space. Behind Galahad and his 
 comrades stands a company of white- 
 robed nuns who hold great candles, 
 the yellow glow upon their bearers' 
 garments blending with the cool day- 
 light that pours through the unseen 
 window above the altar. The same 
 light shows in gray reflections upon 
 
7 o THE LEGEND OF 
 
 the steely fronts and helmets of the 
 two kneeling knights in armor. The 
 yellow candlelight glitters upon their 
 backs in fine contrast. The noble 
 face of Launcelot shows in shadow, 
 in grave meditation. That of Bors, 
 beyond, is not seen. 
 
 The chapel architecture is Roman- 
 esque, of the early Christian type. 
 In the centre of the background is 
 the remarkable crucifix of early form, 
 previously alluded to. It occupies 
 the centre of three arches. The 
 beautiful face of the Saviour, beard- 
 less and youthful, without a sugges- 
 tion of the agony that marks later 
 conceptions, but with a divine dignity, 
 a calm that transcends physical an- 
 guish, has a strongly classic feeling. 
 On either side of the cross is a kneel- 
 ing figure ; and three other figures, 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 71 
 
 vaguely indicated, are frescoed in each 
 of the adjacent arches. In the vaulted 
 ceiling above is a characteristic Celtic 
 ornament of interlacing curves, red 
 against gray. 
 
 The remarkable red robe of Gala- 
 had henceforth distinguishes the hero 
 throughout the series. Besides sup- 
 plying a magnificent accent for the 
 central figure of each panel, the color 
 has a deep mystical significance in 
 this relation. In Christian symbol- 
 ism red is the color of spiritual pu- 
 rity. It is the spirit cleansed as by 
 fire. It is not the color of passive 
 purity, of mere innocence, as white is. 
 It stands for activity, conflict, human 
 effort, with the knowledge of good 
 and evil that imparts the strength to 
 achieve the good and resist the evil. 
 The red robe means the protecting 
 
72 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 garment that the pure soul must wear 
 for its life in the world. It identifies 
 its wearer, through kinship of the 
 same red blood, with the interests 
 and the welfare of his fellows, in 
 whose cause he is fighting. It is the 
 outer personality which must bear 
 the stress of the conflict and receive 
 the bruises and stains that come from 
 contact with the world. But beneath 
 all the soul must remain unsullied. 
 
 The Third Panel : Galahad and the 
 Siege Perilous. 
 
 The third panel, depicting Galahad 
 and the Siege Perilous, forms the 
 most splendid representation of the 
 entire series. It displays a great 
 dramatic moment, animate with a 
 diversity of emotions. The magnifi- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 73 
 
 cent spectacle invests the supreme 
 interest of a supernatural event with 
 the gorgeous array of a royal court. 
 
 Galahad has been schooled in 
 worldly wisdom by Gurnemanz, and 
 the youth now arrives at Camelot to 
 take his place at the Round Table 
 within the grand hall where sits King 
 Arthur with his knights. He is led 
 by the mysterious figure of his ances- 
 tor, the first possessor of the Grail 
 after its consecration by the blood of 
 the Saviour, Joseph of Arimathea. 
 It is the spirit of Joseph, robed en- 
 tirely in white, his head concealed. 
 It is an awe-inspiring moment. Vari- 
 ous emotions thrill the company, — 
 awe, terror, curiosity, reverence, ex- 
 ultation. Sword-hilts, lifted high on 
 every side, give the sign of the cross 
 and portend the conflicts that are to 
 
74 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 be waged in its sacred cause. King 
 Arthur, enthroned beside the table 
 beneath a rich baldachin, rises from 
 his seat to receive the new knight 
 and leader. Galahad advances with 
 involuntary movement as though in 
 the hands of destiny, all sense of self 
 lost in his sense of the greatness of 
 the moment. 
 
 Before him is the Siege Perilous, 
 fashioned by Merlin with his magic, 
 " carven with strange figures ; and in 
 and out the figures, like a serpent, 
 ran a scroll of letters in a tongue no 
 man could read." So related Perci- 
 vale, in Tennyson's poem. " Peril- 
 ous for good and ill," said Merlin; 
 " for there no man could sit but he 
 should lose himself." Merlin him- 
 self was lost, sitting in his own seat 
 by misadvertence. Tennyson makes 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 75 
 
 Galahad say, hearing of Merlin's 
 doom, "I, if I lose myself, I save 
 myself." And so here we see the 
 gentle, heroic youth lost to himself 
 and saving himself for the noblest 
 of ends. No better description could 
 be given of the overpowering im- 
 pression made by the mysterious 
 figure of Joseph of Arimathea, ad- 
 vancing resistlessly, than is contained 
 in the words of Mr. Henry Van 
 Dyke : " The very sweep of the pale 
 drapery is potent and majestic, like a 
 visible call of destiny, and the form 
 hidden by its folds has the dreadful 
 force of the inscrutable." 
 
 As Galahad draws near, undaunted, 
 but with the reluctance of humility, 
 with the shyness of boyhood, a great 
 angelic figure lifts the red drapery, of 
 the same fabric as Galahad's mantle, 
 
76 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 from the seat. Above the seat there 
 appears written in the air with letters 
 of golden light the magical inscrip- 
 tion : " Cy yert li sieges Galaad." 
 " This is Galahad's seat " is the mean- 
 ing. The great white wings of the 
 Angel of the Grail brood over the 
 spot, — a spiritual canopy that con- 
 verts the Siege Perilous into a throne 
 that complements, and surpasses in 
 glory, the throne of King Arthur ad- 
 jacent. 
 
 An immense choir of adoring 
 angels encircles the vast space of the 
 hall, whose huge dimensions are indi- 
 cated by the smallness of the figures 
 of the knights seen in perspective on 
 the thither side of the great round of 
 the table. This angelic host is not 
 visible to the company. Arrayed in 
 close ranks, file above file, the angels 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 77 
 
 stand in the air just above the heads 
 of the knights. The interlacing of 
 their wings forms a pattern almost 
 conventional in its repetition, en- 
 hancing the character of decorative 
 design that the white splendor of the 
 celestial visitors imparts to the mag- 
 nificent painting. Intimate touches 
 in the composition are those mani- 
 fest in such a charming feature as 
 that of the pretty page who kneels 
 beside the king's place, looking up 
 with happy face and inquiring eyes, 
 and in the humorous suggestion of 
 the panic-stricken look of the jester 
 hard by. 
 
 Malory gives a circumstantial re- 
 lation of the marvellous letters re- 
 vealed upon the Siege Perilous. Per- 
 haps Merlin's undecipherable legend 
 declared itself in this inscription. 
 
78 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 The king and his knights, coming 
 to the hall for their feast, found 
 upon the Siege Perilous, newly writ- 
 ten in letters of gold, " Four hun- 
 dred winters and fifty-four accom- 
 plished after the passion of our Lord 
 Jesu Christ ought this siege to be 
 fulfilled." It was the feast of Pen- 
 tecost that they were celebrating ; 
 and Launcelot, accounting the term 
 that passed, declared that it ought 
 to be fulfilled that day. So they 
 covered the siege with a cloth of 
 silk until he should come that ought 
 to achieve the adventure. 
 
 The stately architecture of the 
 great hall, so splendidly pictured by 
 Tennyson, in this picture is barely 
 indicated by the gigantic pillars just 
 seen on the left. Otherwise the 
 angelic host conceals the walls, and 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 79 
 
 itself supplies the element of decora- 
 tive magnificence. In this scene the 
 red robe of Galahad is held by a 
 girdle of golden brown, — evidently 
 that plaited for the young hero as a 
 sword-belt by the fair young nun, 
 Percivale's sister, as related by Ten- 
 nyson. 
 
 The Fourth Panel : The Benediction 
 upon the Quest. 
 
 Malory tells how, during the feast, 
 and before the coming of Gala- 
 had, news was brought of a marvel 
 upon the river, — a great stone 
 " hoving on the water," as it were 
 of red marble, with a fair and a rich 
 sword sticking therein. The king 
 and his company hastened to see, 
 but no one might move the sword. 
 
80 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 When Galahad had come, the king 
 took him to the river and showed 
 him the sword. The youth lightly 
 drew it from the stone and placed it 
 in the empty scabbard that he wore, 
 the sword fitting it exactly. After 
 that most of the knights made vows 
 to join in the Quest of the Grail. 
 But Galahad rode yet without shield. 
 On the evening of the fourth day he 
 came to a white abbey. There be- 
 hind the altar hung a wonderful 
 white shield, bearing a red cross. 
 This shield had belonged to King 
 Evelake of Sarras, a Pagan converted 
 by Joseph, the son of Joseph of Ari- 
 mathea. Joseph and the king came 
 together into the land of Great 
 Britain. When Joseph lay dying, 
 in token for the king he made a 
 cross upon the shield with his blood, 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 81 
 
 predicting that it should be borne by 
 Galahad, the last of his lineage, the 
 cross ever remaining fresh as when 
 painted. The shield was hung in 
 the abbey to await there the coming 
 of Galahad. 
 
 So with sword and shield sanctified 
 by source and by destiny Galahad 
 and his fellows from the Round 
 Table congregate in the cathedral for 
 benediction upon their Quest, as de- 
 picted in the fourth panel. It is a 
 scene of solemn splendor. All the 
 kneeling knights are in armor ; and 
 they hold their lances erect, gay with 
 banners of manifold devices heraldic 
 of their bearers. All wear helmets 
 save Galahad, who kneels in the front 
 rank. The new knight wears an 
 armor of golden chain above his red 
 robe. His left hand grasps his sword- 
 
82 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 hilt, his right his lance ; his banner 
 bearing a red Celtic cross with lines of 
 black. He kneels with bared head. 
 Here also, as in the chapel with the 
 nuns, his helmet lies before him on 
 the ground. An impressive figure 
 is that of the bishop, with arms ex- 
 tended in benediction. About the 
 altar are many kneeling priests. In 
 the background, beyond the bishop, 
 is an iron grill finely wrought in a 
 graceful pattern. Behind it is a sug- 
 gestion of women figures, perhaps 
 nuns, together with ladies of the 
 court. The general tone of the panel 
 is a warm brown, enriched by the 
 varied colors that mark the pompous 
 array of multicolored banners which 
 adorn the thicket of lances. The 
 picture forms a spectacle of quite an- 
 other order from that of the dramatic 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 83 
 
 moment of the preceding subject. 
 As already pointed out, it repeats the 
 motive of preparation that marks 
 the second panel and introduces the 
 second great moment which brings 
 the first half of the cycle to a close. 
 The chords are fuller, richer, more 
 complex, than in the first scene at the 
 altar. At the same time the effect is 
 more external, and not so profoundly 
 impressive, as that of the quiet gath- 
 ering in the convent chapel. Never- 
 theless, this seems quite appropriate 
 as a prelude to a campaign of struggle, 
 of conflict in the great world. In its 
 difficult position, just above a win- 
 dow, the vivid and gorgeous character 
 of the painting makes it hold its place 
 with remarkable success. 
 
84 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 The Fifth Panel: The Castle of 
 the Grail and the Failure of 
 Galahad. 
 
 The fifth panel, which occupies the 
 entire frieze at the north end of the 
 room, closes the first part of the 
 cycle, which the artist has here 
 divided much as Goethe divided his 
 Faust into a first and second part. 
 Here we behold the arrival of Gala- 
 had in the great hall of the enchanted 
 Castle of the Grail. The environ- 
 ment betokens a period very much 
 earlier than that of the other com- 
 positions. In various things we see 
 that the age is more primitive. For 
 instance, we may note the compar- 
 atively rude character of the canopy 
 that shelters King Amfortas, as con- 
 trasted with the luxurious elaboration 
 of King Arthur's baldachin. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 85 
 
 The feeble old king, worn by suf- 
 fering, tosses uneasily upon his couch 
 in a sort of waking sleep. Upon the 
 whole court, with its knights, its 
 ladies, and its priests, the same 
 dreamlike spell is evident in the way 
 that the shadowy figures reveal them- 
 selves in the dim recesses of the 
 castle. The coming of Galahad has 
 brought a gleam of life to them all ; 
 one feels the thrill of hope, of ex- 
 pectancy concerning the promised, 
 the long-awaited and blessed release 
 that the coming of the pure young 
 knight is to bring to the castle, his 
 presence stirring the court as the 
 earth is stirred at the break of dawn. 
 
 As befits the subject, the element 
 of the mysterious, the symbolical, is 
 here expressed with uncommon ful- 
 ness and dramatic power. The ex- 
 
86 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 alted conception, the solemn tone of 
 the painting, — these grandly convey 
 a sense of the enchanted, dreamlike 
 existence to which the old king and 
 his court are bound, and of the mysti- 
 cal pageantry of the guardianship of 
 the Holy Grail. 
 
 In the midst of it all, vital and 
 actual, stands the figure of Galahad, 
 like a gleam of sunlight and a breath 
 of pure air penetrating the realm of 
 illusion,fresh from the world of reality. 
 It symbolizes, perhaps, the extent to 
 which human effort and intellectual 
 endeavor may, unaided, enter into 
 the mystery of existence and solve 
 the secret of the divine — and the 
 futility of the Quest as thus pursued ; 
 for, even though perceiving the illu- 
 sion, the seeker is inevitably baffled 
 in his search for what lies beyond. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 87 
 
 To that end he must seek aid beyond 
 himself, outside of his own individual 
 powers. At the side of Galahad there 
 hangs the polished steel shield of the 
 old king, reflecting the red of the 
 young knight's robe. One feels that 
 the reflection means the illusion whose 
 significance the confident young hero 
 cannot penetrate. Beyond the sleep- 
 ing king there passes the wonderful 
 procession of the Grail that Amfortas 
 and his court are inhibited from seeing 
 while it moves among them. Galahad 
 is endeavoring in his own mind to 
 solve the meaning of it all. There 
 is the Bearer of the Grail, there is 
 the Damsel with the Golden Dish 
 whose prototype is Herodias, there 
 are the two Knights each with a seven- 
 branched Candlestick, there is the 
 Knight who holds aloft the Bleeding 
 
88 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 Spear. It is ordained that Galahad 
 shall ask the solving question, that 
 he should demand the meaning of it 
 all. Divine wisdom is not attained 
 from one's own self alone : it must 
 be sought of the experience and the 
 knowledge possessed by others. 
 Galahad deems his own schooling at 
 the hands of the sagacious Gurne- 
 manz sufficient. He can guess the 
 mystery, he thinks. In consequence 
 the achievement of the Grail is long 
 deferred. Others, whom then he 
 might at once have helped, are 
 obliged to suffer long and much. 
 
 The figure of Galahad, arrived at 
 his goal, yet baffled in his quest, is 
 one of the artist's finest triumphs in 
 characterization. It is wonderfully 
 sympathetic, as it is unspeakably 
 lovely, as a presentment of pure and 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 89 
 
 perfect youth. The stripling stands 
 transfixed, with gaze mystified and 
 yet lingeringly expectant, wondering 
 at what lies about him, marvelling that 
 the event he has confidently looked 
 for does not happen, perplexed that 
 the spell laid upon the shadowy throng 
 about him is not broken, since the 
 court palpably is touched by his pres- 
 ence, just as clouds begin to dissolve 
 when the sunshine strives to break 
 through. In contrast with Galahad's 
 sunny brightness is the dreaming 
 figure of the gaunt and spectral king. 
 The hero is separated from his goal by 
 scarcely an arm's length. His destiny 
 is almost within his grasp. Yet he is 
 fated to pursue the Quest through 
 long and weary struggles. 
 
9 o THE LEGEND OF 
 
 The Sixth Panel: The Loathely 
 Damsel. 
 
 As near disheartenment as one so 
 filled with assurance of a high destiny 
 well can be, Galahad finds himself 
 roaming again. Somehow he has 
 strangely lost the Castle of the Grail : 
 the way thither is as uncertain as 
 though his steps never had trodden 
 it. He wanders through a blighted 
 country that lies under the same spell 
 as the castle. Enthralled by that 
 spell are likewise the three maidens 
 that pass as he sits disconsolate by the 
 roadside, pondering his failure. A 
 weirdly mystical group they are, — 
 the Loathely Damsel and her two 
 companions. In the sixth panel we 
 see the hapless lady riding a white 
 mule with a rich golden harness, her 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 91 
 
 hooded cloak of dark crimson con- 
 cealing her head, — now bald and with 
 repulsive features that once were of 
 exceeding beauty. The dark of 
 the crimson makes a minor tone in 
 relation to the bright red of Gala- 
 had's robe as he sits with head bare 
 and bowed. The second damsel fol- 
 lows riding, her head and shoulders 
 just seen in the picture. The third 
 maiden is dressed as a stripling in 
 dark attire. She carries a scourge to 
 urge the two steeds forward. The 
 Loathely Maiden holds in her arms 
 the ghasdy head of a crowned king, 
 and is weighted down with the burden. 
 In the background are bare tree- 
 trunks in a gloomy forest, the light of 
 a bleak sky gleaming through. The 
 Loathely Damsel has lost her charm 
 of face, — though still retaining her 
 
92 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 beautiful young form, — in penalty 
 for the ill she has wrought. Against 
 her will she has to roam the world, 
 doing harm to men, until the achieve- 
 ment of the Grail shall set her free 
 with her companions. They recog- 
 nize Galahad ; filled with resent- 
 ment at his failure to effect their 
 longed-for disenthralment, they bit- 
 terly reproach and revile him for not 
 asking the question when within the 
 castle. He bears in patient sorrow 
 their maledictions, for he feels that 
 they are justified. 
 
 What is the meaning of it all ? 
 Here in the Loathely Damsel we 
 have a prototype of Kundry, so finely 
 developed by Wagner's art, as in the 
 preceding panel we see in Galahad 
 something of the "Pure Fool," the 
 Parsifal whose youthful innocence, 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 93 
 
 prime essential to the Quest though 
 it be, yet is all unsufficing. Knowl- 
 edge of the world's ways is needed, 
 that the hero may redeem his fellow- 
 beings from manifold sufferings and 
 misfortunes. Just as Kundry was 
 doomed to work ill to men sorely 
 against her will until one should come 
 destined to release her, so likewise was 
 it with the Loathely Damsel. She 
 stands for the ill that woman unwill- 
 ingly works for man ; she stands for 
 the loss of woman's personal charm 
 that comes with years passed in a world 
 blighted by the loss of its source of life 
 and light, the Divine Wisdom that is 
 possible to mankind ; she stands for 
 the power of woman over men and 
 their kingdoms, making crowns and 
 the wearers of crowns her very own 
 to do with as she may, their lives 
 
94 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 with their kingdoms forfeit to her. 
 And she takes them greedily, but 
 with much sorrow. So, though 
 merely an episode in the series, 
 the subject of this panel is pregnant 
 with deep significance. 
 
 It is notable that the Loathely 
 Damsel retains her essential nobility 
 of nature, typified in her beauty of 
 figure, while suffering the inevitable 
 penalty of her acts through her loss 
 of charm in countenance. The 
 strength of red blood has carried the 
 soul of the pure knight safely through 
 the occupancy of the Siege Perilous, 
 — perilous through the dangers from 
 pride taken in attributes and virtues 
 conferred by God, not gained by 
 himself. It has guarded him through 
 fasts and vigils. It has carried him 
 to the very abiding-place of the Grail 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 95 
 
 itself. But there something more than 
 personal purity was demanded, some- 
 thing more than singleness of purpose. 
 He was a seeker for enlightenment, 
 and as such he was bound to ask a 
 certain question. That is, wisdom 
 can be gained only through under- 
 standing. So, meeting the Loathely 
 Damsel, he sees the immense amount 
 of harm that exists in the world and 
 understands its cause. And she, in 
 her helpless anger, gives him the key 
 to the Quest. From her lips he 
 learns for the first time that he should 
 have made question, that therein lay 
 the cause of his failure. When 
 Galahad again comes to the Castle of 
 the Grail, he will know what to do. 
 
96 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 The Seventh Panel: The Conquest 
 of the Seven Deadly Sins. 
 
 The next two panels are preliminary 
 to the culmination of the sequence 
 of high adventures through which 
 Galahad had to pass before fulfilling 
 his Quest. In bringing his hero to 
 the enchanted castle of the Impris- 
 oned Maidens and in the happenings 
 pictured in the two panels precedent 
 thereto, Mr. Abbey has followed the 
 account given by Malory very closely, 
 though with a sense of the poetic sym- 
 bolism of the subjects that transcends 
 immensely the somewhat matter-of- 
 fact narrative of that writer. In the 
 seventh panel we for a second time 
 see Galahad in chain-armor worn 
 over his robe of red, engaged in mor- 
 tal combat with the seven knights 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 97 
 
 who guard the gate of the castle 
 where the captive maidens are im- 
 prisoned. They are knights of dark- 
 ness, for they impersonate the Seven 
 Deadly Sins. Here, for the only 
 time in the series, we see Galahad in 
 positive aggressive action, depicted in 
 a militant phase. At the outset of 
 the Quest Galahad donned his chain- 
 armor, ready for conflict, but upon 
 his first path to the Castle of the 
 Grail he seems to have had no occa- 
 sion to wear it ; without it he entered 
 the enchanted hall. Hand-to-hand 
 conflict with the world's evil is neces- 
 sary to the growth of the youthful 
 soul. Aided by the armor of right- 
 eousness, the pure knight overcomes 
 the Seven Deadly Sins that menace 
 the integrity of his soul, as they bar 
 the gate to the castle where the Active 
 
98 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 Virtues are imprisoned. Galahad 
 here wears his golden helmet; and 
 we see the red interior of his shield, 
 strapped to his arm, while he wards 
 off the blows of his adversaries. The 
 seven knights of darkness are in scaly 
 armor, grim and gray, and their 
 shields are of steel. The seven 
 knights are brothers, and Galahad 
 tells them that he has come to 
 destroy the wicked customs of the 
 castle. 
 
 The Eighth Panel : The Righteous 
 Keeper of the Captive Virtues 
 gives Galahad the Key to their 
 Prison. 
 
 Galahad defeats the seven knights, 
 though they " all have ado with him 
 at once" ; and they turn and flee. 
 The evil knights are not slain. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 99 
 
 They flee to other parts. Sin has no 
 further menace for the pure soul, but 
 its embodiments survive to harass the 
 world. The hero penetrates to the in- 
 ner gate and is greeted by the keeper, 
 an aged man in religious garb. The 
 natural keeper of the human body is 
 world-old Righteousness, who guards 
 the inner gate ; the Sins stand with- 
 out. 
 
 The soul of intrepid virtue has 
 learned to the depths the nature of 
 evil, and has kept himself pure the 
 mean while. With uncovered head, 
 helmet held in his left hand and 
 bared sword in his right, Galahad 
 pays reverent homage to the holy 
 man who greets him, and says, " Sir, 
 have here the keys to this castle ! " 
 With these the young knight opens 
 the gates and passes within. 
 
ioo THE LEGEND OF 
 
 The Ninth Panel: Galahad deliv- 
 ers the Captive Virtues. 
 
 By reason of its victory over evil 
 the Pure Soul has penetrated to the 
 depths of human nature wherein lies 
 latent all its potentiality for good. 
 Hence the imprisoned Virtues are set 
 free to bless the world with their 
 manifold activities. Such is the 
 meaning of the ninth panel, in which 
 the artist has made beautiful use of a 
 great decorative opportunity. This 
 panel is the pendant of "The Siege 
 Perilous," which occupies the corre- 
 sponding position on the opposite 
 wall. When Galahad ventured to 
 occupy the Siege Perilous, he thereby 
 hazarded all the dangers through 
 which he had safely passed' when he 
 entered the Castle of the Maidens. 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 101 
 
 Then the Pure Soul redeemed human 
 nature from base mastery and made 
 it the abode of righteousness, the 
 source of light. This was the last 
 great step by which the achievement 
 of the Grail was assured. 
 
 The picture is a conception of ex- 
 ceeding graciousness, — replete with 
 loveliness in form and feature, ex- 
 quisite in its qualities of coloring; 
 delicately luxuriant, and as gladsome 
 to the eye as the sight of a spring- 
 time garden after the bleakness of 
 winter days. In most effective con- 
 trast with the austere walls of the 
 huge dungeon where they have been 
 held captive is the fair company of 
 godly maidens in their flower-like di- 
 versity of array, — pale blue and lily 
 white, rose, lilac, and brocade of 
 golden weaving. The delivering 
 
102 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 knight receives in all humbleness 
 the shyly tendered thanks of the 
 many maidens. His back is turned 
 to the spectator, his helmet, sword 
 and shield have been laid upon the 
 ground. Upon the shield we see 
 the cross painted by Joseph with his 
 blood, — the same cross as that borne 
 upon the banner of Galahad in the 
 cathedral scene. 
 
 The Tenth Panel : Galahad parts 
 from his Bride, Blanchefleur. 
 
 After releasing the captive Virtues, 
 that they may beautify and bless the 
 world with all manner of gladness 
 that is born of godliness, Galahad 
 marries the Lady Blanchefleur, — the 
 White Flower of woman's purity that 
 complements the soul of the true 
 man. Blanchefleur, say some of the 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 103 
 
 legends, was a niece of Gurnemanz ; 
 and to her turned the heart of the 
 boy ere he had come to sit in the 
 Siege Perilous. In his journeyings 
 he often thought of her. And after 
 he had released the captive maidens 
 he found Gurnemanz wounded and 
 dying. His old teacher told him 
 that he had failed to achieve the 
 Grail because he had not wedded 
 his true love. So Galahad promised 
 to marry Blanchefleur. But on the 
 morning of their wedding he had a 
 vision of the Grail, and knew that 
 none but a virgin knight might 
 achieve it. So he turned away from 
 his sweet wife, and went out upon the 
 Quest. 
 
 The picture is the most pathetic in 
 the series. The beautiful bride in 
 her wedding attire sits crowned with 
 
104 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 a wreath of roses, and in her lap she 
 holds a cluster of the same flowers. 
 Galahad turns away, perhaps not so 
 unwillingly as it might seem, for a 
 sense of the inevitable fills his soul, 
 and the knowledge of his Quest and 
 what it will bring can leave no room 
 for earthly sorrows. 
 
 Viewed literally, as the legend may 
 read, it is a tragic moment. But 
 Galahad is not of a nature to wed and 
 then meanly desert, breaking his troth 
 almost at the foot of the altar that he 
 may fulfil a higher purpose. The 
 truer meaning of the holy story 
 must be read into the picture. At 
 the gate awaits a young knightly 
 companion, holding the red-cross 
 shield for Galahad to take and re- 
 sume the Quest, — the shield that 
 shall protect him throughout the 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 105 
 
 Quest, to the end of it. Blanche- 
 fleur, alive to the lofty purport of the 
 moment, shows no resenting, deplor- 
 ing grief upon her lovely face. She 
 knows what calls him away, she 
 knows that spiritually she has been 
 made one with him ; and Galahad 
 goes forth with the completed nat- 
 ure, woman joined with man, that 
 is needful for the great attain- 
 ment. The woman standing behind 
 Blanchefleur, the man awaiting Gala- 
 had at the gate : Womanhood with 
 Manhood thenceforth is united. 
 Galahad learns the lesson of mar- 
 riage, and acquires its loftiest mean- 
 ing in a union of qualities far more 
 precious to possess than any pleas- 
 ures of the sense might be. 
 
106 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 The Eleventh Panel : Amfortas 
 Released by Galahad. 
 
 The earthly wisdom taught by 
 Gurnemanz through the alchemy 
 learned from more intimate converse 
 with the same source, through union 
 with the pure elements of human 
 lore, has been transformed to divine 
 illumination. So, with the strength 
 generated from a knowledge of the 
 Good and from a conquest of Evil, 
 and with his nature rounded out with 
 the full attributes of mankind, Gala- 
 had comes again to the Castle of the 
 Grail. He sees once more the strange 
 procession of the Sacred Mysteries. 
 The Grail is borne before him with 
 all the accompanying symbolization 
 that was witnessed once before. 
 Still, he does not understand the sig- 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 107 
 
 nificance of what he sees. No man 
 may come into a new and unknown 
 realm and perceive the purport of 
 the strange things there wrought in 
 terms all unfamiliar. But this time 
 the bright boy knight knew that he 
 did not know. " He only knows 
 who knows he knoweth not," runs 
 one of the oldest and wisest of 
 sayings. 
 
 Yet sympathy is a key that unlocks 
 the secret chambers where is stored 
 the knowledge possessed by other 
 men. It was one of the keys to the 
 Castle of the Captive Virtues. With 
 heart full of compassion for the suf- 
 fering King, Galahad turns to Am- 
 fortas. Knowing that he must ask 
 a question, involuntarily the words 
 come to his lips : " What aileth thee, 
 O King? And what mean these 
 
io8 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 things ? " That was the final key, — 
 the irresistible impulse to help, the 
 irresistible desire to know the highest. 
 The spell was broken. Light and 
 life broke forth from the Grail, gleam- 
 ing and glowing throughout the castle 
 and all through the court that dwelt 
 there. The King, the priests, the 
 knights, the ladies, all moved at last in 
 waking life, were nourished from the 
 wondrous substance of the Grail, and 
 were made whole. From the arch- 
 keeper of the Holy Mysteries, the 
 venerable Amfortas, now fully restored 
 to his high office, the knowledge of 
 the use of the Divine Wisdom that 
 flowed from the Grail, — the vehicle 
 that in the substance of things seen 
 holds the knowledge of all things 
 knowable, — was imparted to his des- 
 tined successor, the knightly and 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 109 
 
 royal youth of the same exalted an- 
 cestry as himself, and the last of his 
 line. 
 
 So we see Galahad bending in 
 affection over the dying King, their 
 right hands clasped, the eyes of Am- 
 fortas lifted to behold the vision of the 
 Grail, seen again by him at last, bring- 
 ing comfort and blessed release, while 
 the Angel bears it away from the 
 Castle that so long sheltered it, its 
 light glowing through its red mantle 
 and lighting as with sunshine the 
 snowy spread of her wings. 
 
 The Twelfth Panel: Galahad de- 
 parts from the Land. 
 
 Come once again to his goal, and 
 this time in the light of the Grail, 
 Galahad has emancipated his suffer- 
 ing fellows who lived with the divine 
 
no THE LEGEND OF 
 
 vessel and yet knew it not, nor 
 received the light that shone from it. 
 Yet the Grail itself is not achieved. 
 Galahad is certain of that end, but 
 still it lies much farther on. So he 
 mounts his white charger and jour- 
 neys forth upon the Quest for the 
 inexhaustible glories of the Divine. 
 The lifting of the spell from Am- 
 fortas and his court has likewise 
 redeemed the entire land from 
 the blight that lay upon it. The 
 Loathely Damsel is once more made 
 whole, restored to beauty and good- 
 ness ; and peace with plenty abounds 
 among the people. So in the twelfth 
 panel we see Galahad surrounded by 
 the thankful folk as, with banner fly- 
 ing from his lance he rides away upon 
 his last great adventure. He rides 
 towards the sea upon which he is 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL in 
 
 to fare. High in the background 
 are a town and castle upon a hill. 
 We may fancy that the lady in a 
 lilac gown, kneeling with her back to 
 us in the foreground, is she who was 
 the Loathely Damsel. 
 
 The Thirteenth Panel : The 
 Voyage to Sarras. 
 
 Sarras is now the port to which 
 Galahad is bound, and it lies far 
 away. Sarras is the city where King 
 Evelake did rule before he came into 
 Great Britain. Malory tells us that 
 it lay in " the spiritual place." 
 Probably by that he meant the Holy 
 Land, for there was much talk of 
 Saracens and Paynims. Sarras, by 
 its sound, may have been the capi- 
 tal of the Saracens. A great city 
 upon an island, doubtless in the 
 
ii2 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 Mediterranean, as a legend has it. 
 However that may have been, it was 
 Sarras that for a while was to be 
 the earthly seat of the Holy Grail. 
 Thither embarked Galahad in King 
 Solomon's ship, which most wonder- 
 fully had been built and preserved 
 for this service. The voyage to 
 Sarras, pictured in the thirteenth 
 panel, is a strong conception of the 
 subject. Solomon's ship very natu- 
 rally symbolizes the wisdom needful 
 to bear one to enlightenment. The 
 frail bark glides in perfect safety 
 across the stormy waves, under low- 
 ering clouds that spread darkly above 
 a narrow streak of sunlit sky which 
 brightens the wide horizon with prom- 
 ise of a prosperous ending for the 
 voyage. The sail is ever spread to a 
 favoring wind, for guiding the ship is 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 113 
 
 the Guardian of the Grail. The 
 angel sits joyously serene in the bow; 
 while she guards the Holy Treas- 
 ure with tender solicitude, its power 
 leads the vessel in security. The 
 Grail casts its pure light upon Gala- 
 had and his two faithful companions, 
 Percival and Bors, who have been 
 privileged to accompany him. Gala- 
 had is in adoration, and only he pre- 
 ceives the source of the glory that is 
 upon them all. They may never 
 behold the Grail itself, yet their 
 fidelity joins them with their pure- 
 souled comrade in arms. 
 
 This ship, built by Solomon, was 
 of wonderful history. It had been 
 predicted to the wise old king that 
 the last of his blood should be a 
 man which shall be a maid, and as 
 good a knight as Joshua. Solomon 
 
ii4 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 had built a ship cunningly wrought 
 in a marvellous manner. When 
 the ship was made, Solomon waited 
 to go on board; but because of 
 miraculous letters written by an 
 angel thereupon he durst not enter. 
 As he drew aback, the ship was 
 shoved into the sea and it sped 
 away. How it was kept through all 
 those many scores of years no man 
 may say. But its destiny from the 
 first was to bring Galahad to Sarras. 
 
 The Fourteenth Panel : The City of 
 Sarras. 
 
 Tennyson, in his matchless pict- 
 ure of Galahad's last journey, shows 
 him voyaging to " the spiritual city." 
 But Sarras was not the New Jerusa- 
 lem, for the " spiritual place " where 
 Malory set it was manifestly, as we 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 115 
 
 have seen, the Holy Land. In the 
 fourteenth panel we behold the last 
 abiding-place of Galahad. The 
 stately city lies along the water. 
 Three ships are moored in its quiet 
 port, and a great red wall encloses 
 the mass of buildings pinnacled and 
 with towers. The purely decorative 
 character of the work is emphasized 
 by the central feature, — Galahad's 
 sword and shield hung at rest. The 
 hero is at the end of his adventures, 
 and his arms are laid by. 
 
 When they came to Sarras, the 
 shield of Galahad was recognized by 
 an old man who greeted them at the 
 shore as that of King Evelake, who 
 had ruled the realm in the olden 
 days. Galahad and his companions 
 were received as holy men, and by 
 the power conferred by his purity 
 
n6 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 he made whole the maimed and he 
 healed the sick. For this the three 
 were thrown into prison by the 
 wicked King who was ruling there. 
 But in their dungeon the knights 
 were fed by the marvellous power 
 of the Holy Grail. At last the King 
 fell ill. He sent for the three 
 knights, and implored their mercy. 
 This they freely gave. The King 
 died, and by all the assent of the 
 whole city Galahad was made king. 
 So came he into his kingdom. He 
 had made himself lord of his own 
 soul, and all else was given unto 
 him. 
 
 The Fifteenth Panel: The Golden 
 Tree and the Achievement of the 
 Grail. 
 
 Galahad reigned over Sarras for a 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 117 
 
 year. Then came the fulfilment of 
 his supreme desire. While voyag- 
 ing in the ship and kneeling in 
 adoration of the Grail, Galahad 
 prayed that, when he might ask it, 
 he should pass out of this world. 
 A voice made answer : " Galahad, 
 thou shalt have thy request. And 
 when thou asketh the death of thy 
 body, thou shalt have it, and then 
 shalt thou find the life of the soul." 
 The decorative simplicity of the 
 final panel unites it most harmoni- 
 ously with its neighbor, which begins 
 the cycle of the frieze. Here we 
 have the apotheosis of Galahad. 
 The perfect knight at last fulfils his 
 Quest. His saintly ancestor, Jo- 
 seph of Arimathea, reappears to 
 him, and, disclosing himself, there- 
 with reveals the Holy Grail. Float- 
 
n8 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 ing in the air as it is about to vanish 
 back into Heaven from its earthly 
 place of keeping, — sacredly treasured 
 at Sarras since it came with the ship, 
 — for the first time the Grail is seen 
 unveiled. But no man might look 
 directly upon its glory and live. 
 Galahad had builded to its last twig 
 his wondrous Golden Tree, the 
 symbol of his perfected works on 
 earth. Naught more remained that 
 he might do. So came the mighty 
 moment when he should look upon 
 the Grail itself. He made the great 
 request : " Now, blessed Lord, would 
 I not longer live, if it might please 
 thee, Lord ! " he prayed. 
 
 Galahad, all through his career, 
 from outset to end, has worn the 
 red cloak ; for it has been necessary 
 so long as he acquires knowledge, 
 
THE HOLY GRAIL 119 
 
 even of things spiritual, through ex- 
 perience in the world. But now the 
 garment of action is about to drop 
 from his shoulders as he kneels to 
 put off mortality and to take on 
 immortality. The crown and the 
 sceptre of his personal kingdom he 
 has cast at his feet. The Holy 
 Grail itself, the crown, the sceptre, 
 and the mystical Golden Tree are 
 brightly defined in low relief with 
 gilding and metallic lustre, while a 
 company of seven angels with crim- 
 son wings witnesses the high achieve- 
 ment. The just man has been made 
 perfect. Galahad is one with God. 
 Divine Wisdom is attained. 
 
The Copley Prints, recognized by the most 
 distinguished artists as the best art reproduc- 
 tions made in America, are excellent for 
 gifts, and for the adornment of one's own 
 walls. They may be obtained of the lead- 
 ing art dealers throughout the world. The 
 publishers, however, fill orders direct if de- 
 sired, and are especially glad to send to per- 
 sons to whom the art stores are not readily 
 accessible. Appreciating the difficulty of 
 selecting prints without first seeing the sub- 
 jects, the publishers also send "on approval " 
 to intending purchasers. Upon such orders 
 within the United States the publishers pay 
 the mail or express one way ; both ways if 
 prints are retained to the amount of $5.00. 
 
 Complete Illustrated Catalogue sent 
 upon receipt of fifteen cents in stamps. 
 
 Curtis & Cameron: Boston 
 Pierce Building, Opp. Public Library 
 
 IZI 
 
Family Portraits 
 
 In addition to their general publications, 
 Messrs. Curtis & Cameron reproduce family 
 portraits upon private order. Scarcely a fam- 
 ily but has either a painting or miniature or da- 
 guerreotype of some ancestor, near or distant, 
 of which other members of the family would 
 like to have copies, of artistic quality, either in 
 smaller sizes for portfolio or album, or in large 
 sizes suitable for framing and hanging on one's 
 wall. Portraits in any medium will be re- 
 ceived, — in oil, water-color, pastel, min- 
 iature, engraving, daguerreotype, or photo- 
 graph. In the case of photographs, most of 
 them fade, and the negatives are frequently 
 lost ; if, therefore, families have any that they 
 wish preserved, either for themselves or for 
 unique gifts to relatives, it is especially desir- 
 able to have them reproduced in the perma- 
 nent form of the COPLEY PRINTS. 
 
 Correspondence is invited. 
 
 Curtis & Cameron: Boston 
 
 Pierce Building, Opp. Public Library 
 
American 
 Mural Painting 
 
 An intelligent and appreciative account of 
 the great art movement that has been de- 
 veloped by a band of serious men in our 
 midst, from a writer who knows her subject 
 through careful observation and study. 
 
 "The Art Interchange. 
 
 It is a most interesting story Miss King tells 
 regarding the history of American moral 
 painting. She has covered the ground pretty 
 thoroughly in concise and intelligent lan- 
 guage, which will be of interest both to the 
 layman and the student in such matters. 
 
 Neva Tori Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 By Pauline King, 
 
 Octavo, cloth, decorative, gilt top, 125 
 illustrations. Net, £3.50. By mail or ex- 
 press, $3.70. 
 
 Noyes, Piatt & Co. : Boston 
 
 Pierce Building, Opp. Public Library 
 
 123 
 
Handbook of the 
 Library of Congress 
 
 This issue of what may be called the official 
 manual of the Library is especially welcome 
 at this time, as giving in compact and at- 
 tractive form all the essential data as to the 
 library itself and its magnificent new home. 
 The Library Journal. 
 
 Every visitor to Washington should study the 
 
 Library building thoroughly, and in this 
 
 study the Handbook will be of great service. 
 
 Washington Times. 
 
 Illustrated, paper covers, postpaid, 30 cents. 
 
 Curtis & Cameron:. Boston 
 Pierce Building, Opp. Public Library 
 
 124 
 
Handbook of the 
 Boston Public Library 
 
 Sent by the Library authorities to the learned 
 institutions upon its exchange list as an 
 accurate presentation of what the building is 
 and what it contains. 
 
 We cannot express too strongly our appre- 
 ciation of the manner in which it has been 
 executed. Certainly, you have contrived to 
 bring together in most attractive form what- 
 ever of interest the building possesses. 
 
 McKim, Mead & White, Architect!. 
 
 Illustrated, paper covers, postpaid, 30 cents. 
 
 Curtis & Cameron : Boston 
 
 Pierce Building, Opp. Public Library 
 
 125 
 
The QUEST of the 
 HOLY GRAIL 
 
 In addition to this book on the Grail by Mr. 
 Baxter, attention is invited to the handsome 
 quarto volume on the subject, fully illustrated. 
 The reproductions include Mr. Abbey's en- 
 tire frieze of fifteen panels, each in full page 
 size, and eleven of the very interesting draw- 
 ings and studies of details. The admirable 
 text is by Ferris Greenslet, Ph.D. It is 
 finely printed on choice Ruisdael paper, 
 deckle edge, cloth, $5.00 net ; by mail, 
 $ 5. 20. Sent on approval. 
 
 Curtis & Cameron: Boston 
 
 Pierce Building, Opp. Public Library