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Arthur fights the giant of Mont Saint Michel in the Miroir Historial of Vincent de Beauvais. BnF, Département des Manuscrits |
Only a short time remains to see the exhibition “The Legend of King Arthur” at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France-François-Mitterrand, and anyone …
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Arthur fights the giant of Mont Saint Michel in the Miroir Historial of Vincent de Beauvais. BnF, Département des Manuscrits |
Only a short time remains to see the exhibition “The Legend of King Arthur” at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France-François-Mitterrand, and anyone interested in medieval art or history, the art and genesis of storytelling, computer games or even Monty Python should not miss this fascinating show.
Being a female of the species, I never took much interest in what seemed like the all-boy world of jousting knights, magicians and the Holy Grail, even though it also seemed to have a strong romantic element. What is perhaps most intriguing about this show is that the world of King Arthur most of us are familiar with (or, in my case, have a vague idea of), bears little resemblance to the original stories that evolved over time into the literature, operas, films, comics and computer games we know today.
The first surprise for those not in the know is the discovery that King Arthur was not really the star of the show, but merely a shadowy background figure behind what turn out to be not only stories of knightly bravery and courtly love but also adultery, incest, betrayal and warring families – far more interesting, though less morally uplifting.
Merlin the magician, for example, turns out to be the original Rosemary’s baby, a deformed, hairy creature (wonderfully illustrated in one of the manuscripts here) born to a virgin impregnated by a demon to do the devil’s work on earth. Luckily for mankind, Merlin instead used his power to do good and was given the power to foretell the future. He was supposed to have erected Stonehenge overnight and was even responsible for the birth of Arthur himself: Merlin gave King Uther Pendragon the appearance of the Duke of Cornwall so that he could seduce the duke’s wife, Igraine. Arthur was born from their union. He died in battle with his own illegitimate son, Mordred (the product of Arthur’s union with his half sister).
Lancelot may have been a brave knight, but he was not exactly loyal to his king, carrying on a life-long affair with Arthur’s wife, Guinevere. Meanwhile, Galehaut surrenders to Lancelot in battle, having fallen madly in love with him, and they become boon companions, adding a homosexual element to the tale. Tristan and Isolde offer another example of an adulterous couple.
That’s just a sample of some of the juicy and not always pretty stories illustrated in the exhibition’s sometimes finely worked, sometimes comic-book-like manuscripts, printed books and objects, including a few gorgeous ivory boxes carved with scenes illustrating the Arthurian legends and a number of chalices representing the Holy Grail (the bowl from which Christ was supposed to have eaten his last meal, containing some of the blood from his wounds).
While there is no proof that Arthur ever existed, his name pops up in some Celtic legends as early as the seventh century. A few centuries later, his name was bandied about as the savior of Britain from the Saxon invasion. It wasn’t until the 12th century, however, that Geoffrey of Monmouth popularized the story of the righteous king and the magician Merlin in The History of the Kings of Britain (written in Latin and widely translated), which provided the template for the many interpretations to come over the centuries. (The first known illustration of Arthur, a simple line drawing in the margin of an edition of The History of the Kings of Britain, is on display in the exhibition).
In France, Chrétien de Troyes picked up and elaborated on the stories in poetry, followed by other prose writers, helping to perpetuate them. Over time, the original stories were cleaned up and given Christian themes as the quest for knightly adventure and courtly love was transformed into a spiritual quest.
To see so many of these stunning illuminated manuscripts in person is thrilling (the Bibliothèque Nationale de France owns the world’s largest collection of manuscripts and printed works of the subject). This beautifully presented show takes us step by step through the evolution of the Arthurian legend, beginning with explanatory texts on colorful banners telling the version of the story recounted in a series of early-13th-century French novels known as Lancelot-Grail (translated into English and compiled by Thomas Malory in the late 15th century in Le Morte d’Arthur) and ends with clips from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and musical interpretations of the legend, including Wagner’s Parsifal.
The explanatory texts are translated into English, and the show also offers some Braille texts and touchable reproductions of certain objects, plus recorded readings of some of the texts in the dialect they were written in. I had the good luck to attend the show with an expert in French medieval literature who could understand parts of the readings and most of the written texts, but any French speaker will recognize many of the words.
This is the second of a three-part series of exhibitions on the subject. The third, “Chrétien de Troyes et la Légende du Roi Arthur” will take place in Médiathèque of the city of Troyes in 2011.
Bibliothèque Nationale de France-François-Mitterrand: Quai François-Mauriac, 75013 Paris. Métro: Quai de la Gare. RER C: Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-7pm; Sunday, 1pm-7pm. Admission: €7. Through Jan. 24. expositions.bnf.fr/Arthur
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