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| Christmas at Camelot by Clive Hicks-Jenkins, ed. 75, Penfold Press |
All the joy and exuberance of Christmas at King Arthur’s
court is expressed in this print, the first of a series of fourteen to be based
on the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The author of this verse saga,
the mysterious Pearl Poet, is unstinting in his praise as he introduces the
courtiers, equating their finery with their moral worth. In his recent
translation Simon Armitage describes the two-week-long midwinter feast as ‘a
coming together of the gracious and the glad: the most chivalrous and courteous
knights known in Christendom’.
Elegant, innocent and noble, these lively young men and
women spend the evenings carousing and the daylight hours on the jousting
field. Here we see the best of the best, King Arthur and his queen Guinevere (a
woman whose eyes outshine the brightest of her jewels), and beyond them Sir
Gawain. The horses prance. The riders eye us coolly, not least the knight, who
seems ready for any challenge.
Another artist might have chosen to introduce the series
with a scene of Christmas feasting, but Clive Hicks-Jenkins’ depiction of the
three riders suggests the lightheartedness and energy of the youthful court,
while also emulating the airy elegance of the poem. Dan Bugg’s expert handling
of colour pulls a complex, multi-layered print together, making it feel as taut
and snappy as a heraldic banner unfurling in the breeze.
Christmas at Camelot is available now from the Penfold Press.
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