Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Art Fund
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/henry-fuseli-198" aria-label="More by Henry Fuseli" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Henry Fuseli</a>
Percival Delivering Belisane Enchantment Urma
Presented by the Art Fund 1941
actions: expressive
actions: postures and motions
adults
attacking
chain
characters
crime and punishment
domestic
embracing
Eschenbach, Wolfram von, ‘Parzival’
fairy
imprisonment
interior - non-specific
interiors
kneeling
knight
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
magic and occultism
Malory, Thomas, Sir, ‘Le Morte d’Arthur’
man
objects
Parsifal / Sir Percival
people
religion and belief
royalty and social rank
sitting
society
sorcerer
Spenser, Edmund, ‘The Faerie Queen’
sword
tools and machinery
weapons
woman
work and occupations
<p>Waking from an enchanted sleep, Percival is shown raising his sword to strike the wizard Urma. Meanwhile, his lover, Belisane, clings to his side. Although Henry Fuseli claimed this story was from the ‘Provencal Tales of Kyot’, it was actually his own invention. At first glance, this painting seems to depict the kind of heroic scene associated with grand manner painting. However, it disregards the noble themes and moral lessons such painting usually demanded. Instead, Fuseli’s strange and supernatural imagery emphasises emotional drama and spectacle. This played into Fuseli’s persona as a wild eccentric, equally admired and reviled by contemporaries.</p><p><em>Gallery label, February 2024</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
10 March 2003 – 12 July 2004
2004-07-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2003-03-10
Royal Academy
Collection based display
15 February 2006 – 1 May 2006
2006-05-01
15 February 2006 – 1 May 2006
2006-05-01
2006-02-15
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2006-02-15
Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli, Blake and the Romantic Imagination
Exhibition
3 October 2014 – 27 January 2015
2015-01-27
3 October 2014 – 27 January 2015
2015-01-27
2014-10-03
British Library (London, UK)
2014-10-03
Terror & Wonder: the Gothic Imagination
Loan-out
20 October 2018 – 17 February 2019
2019-02-17
20 October 2018 – 17 February 2019
2019-02-17
2018-10-20
Kunstmuseum Basel (Basel, Switzerland)
http://www.kunstmuseumbasel.ch
2018-10-20
Fuseli. Drama and Theatre
Loan-out
26 September 2022
26 September 2022
2022-09-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-09-26
Gallery 15
Collection based display
Percival Delivering Belisane from the Enchantment of Urma
support: 991 × 1257 mm
frame: 1248 × 1510 × 108 mm
Presented by the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 1941
<div class="text">
<p>Waking from an enchanted sleep, Percival is shown raising his sword to strike the wizard Urma. Meanwhile, his lover, Belisane, clings to his side. Although Henry Fuseli claimed this story was from the ‘Provencal Tales of Kyot’, it was actually his own invention. At first glance, this painting seems to depict the kind of heroic scene associated with grand manner painting. However, it disregards the noble themes and moral lessons such painting usually demanded. Instead, Fuseli’s strange and supernatural imagery emphasises emotional drama and spectacle. This played into Fuseli’s persona as a wild eccentric, equally admired and reviled by contemporaries. </p>
</div>

Display caption
2024-02-27T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
actions: expressive actions: postures and motions adults attacking chain characters crime and punishment domestic embracing Eschenbach, Wolfram von, ‘Parzival’ fairy imprisonment interior - non-specific interiors kneeling knight literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) magic and occultism Malory, Thomas, Sir, ‘Le Morte d’Arthur’ man objects Parsifal / Sir Percival people religion and belief royalty and social rank sitting society sorcerer Spenser, Edmund, ‘The Faerie Queen’ sword tools and machinery weapons woman work and occupations