Watercolour on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Art Fund
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/dante-gabriel-rossetti-461" aria-label="More by Dante Gabriel Rossetti" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Dante Gabriel Rossetti</a>
Damsel Sanct Grael
Purchased with assistance from Sir Arthur Du Cros Bt and Sir Otto Beit KCMG through the Art Fund 1916
actions: postures and motions
adults
animals: birds
basket
blessing
body
censer
clothing and personal items
dove
dress
goblet
hair
halo
hand / hands raised
Holy Communion
Holy Spirit - dove
Judaeo-Christian imagery
kitchen
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
Malory, Thomas, Sir, ‘Le Morte d’Arthur’
mysticism
objects
people
religion and belief
religious
religious and ceremonial
spirituality
symbols and personifications
universal religious imagery
vessels and containers
woman
<p>The damsel of the Sanct Grael (Holy Grail) is a minor character in Malory's Morte d'Arthur. However Rossetti included her in some designs illustrating the Grail quest, showing her offering the chalice to the knights, instead of Christ, as described by Malory. Rossetti's intention was probably to juxtapose her spiritual purity with the sinfulness of Queen Guinevere. Rossetti, like Tennyson, tended to emphasise the female characters of the Arthurian legend. Here the damsel holds her right hand in a gesture of blessing. Her left hand clasps the Grail and a basket containing the Host. The dove symbolises the Holy Spirit.</p><p><em>Gallery label, January 2002</em></p>
paper unique watercolour
21 January 2002 – 21 September 2002
2002-09-21
21 January 2002 – 21 September 2002
2002-09-21
2002-01-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-01-21
Rossetti and Medievalism
Collection based display
12 July 2003 – 15 August 2004
2004-08-15
12 July 2003 – 28 September 2003
2003-09-28
2003-07-12
Art Gallery of Western Australia (Perth, Australia)
25 October 2003 – 15 February 2004
2004-02-15
2003-10-25
Dunedin Public Art Gallery (Dunedin, New Zealand)
http://www.dunedin.art.museum
14 May 2004 – 15 August 2004
2004-08-15
2004-05-14
Frist Center for the Visual Arts (Nashville, USA)
2003-07-12
The Pre-Raphaelite Dream: Paintings and Drawings from the Tate Collection
Tate partnerships & programmes
1 February 2020 – 6 November 2020
2020-11-06
1 February 2020 – 6 November 2020
2020-11-06
2020-02-01
Bowes Museum (Barnard Castle, UK)
http://www.bowesmuseum.org.uk
2020-02-01
Pre-Raphaelite Knights: Re inventing the medieval world in Victorian Britain
Loan-out
1 May 2022 – 12 February 2023
2023-02-12
1 May 2022 – 30 September 2022
2022-09-30
2022-05-01
Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum (Leamington Spa, UK)
4 October 2022 – 12 February 2023
2023-02-12
2022-10-04
Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village (Compton, UK)
http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk
2022-05-01
Modern Pre-Raphaelites Visionaries
Loan-out
The Damsel of Sanct Grael
support: 349 × 127 mm
frame: 494 × 262 × 27 mm
Purchased with assistance from Sir Arthur Du Cros Bt and Sir Otto Beit KCMG through the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 1916
<p>The damsel of the Sanct Grael  (Holy Grail) is a minor character in Malory's Morte d'Arthur. However  Rossetti included her in some designs illustrating the Grail quest, showing  her offering the chalice to the knights, instead of Christ, as described by  Malory. Rossetti's intention was  probably to juxtapose her spiritual  purity with the sinfulness of Queen Guinevere. Rossetti, like Tennyson,  tended to emphasise the female characters of the Arthurian legend.
</p><p>
</p><p>
Here the damsel holds her right hand   in a gesture of blessing. Her left hand clasps the Grail and a basket containing the Host. The dove symbolises the  Holy Spirit.  
</p><p>
</p>
Display caption
2002-01-24T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
actions: postures and motions adults animals: birds basket blessing body censer clothing and personal items dove dress goblet hair halo hand / hands raised Holy Communion Holy Spirit - dove Judaeo-Christian imagery kitchen literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) Malory, Thomas, Sir, ‘Le Morte d’Arthur’ mysticism objects people religion and belief religious religious and ceremonial spirituality symbols and personifications universal religious imagery vessels and containers woman