Sir Galahad

Maker Simeon Solomon (British, 1840-1905)

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Daten.d.

Mediumwatercolor on board

Dimensionsboard: 13 5/8 × 9 5/8 in. (34.6 × 24.4 cm.) mat: 22 × 16 in. (55.9 × 40.6 cm.)

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

Label TextLike many artists of later Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic circles, Solomon was interested in medieval romance and Arthurian themes. Here, he depicts Galahad, one of the three Knights of the Round Table who completed the quest for the Holy Grail. Solomon portrays him as a pensive youth carrying a banner with an image of the Grail shining, bowing his head in contemplation, eyes unfocused and full lips turned down. Solomon’s melancholic and androgynous figures, such as this, emphasize interiority rather than a clear narrative. The sexual ambiguity of these figures has been read as a reflection of Solomon’s homosexuality, for which he had been arrested and publicly censured in 1873 (2022).

Object number70.8

Terms