On the crenelated battlements of a medieval castle a beautiful maiden makes the finishing touches to a pennant depicting a black eagle on a background of gold. It is a time of peace; the sun is shining and all is calm and the young lady has taken her needlework into the light away from the bustle of the castle. Painted in 1911 Stitching the Standard encapsulates the spirit of Pre-Raphaelitism in its later phase, in the years before WWI when life was more innocent and untarnished by the horrors of war. Romance, meticulous draughtsmanship and beauty above all else, are the hallmarks of the late Pre-Raphaelite movement of which Blair Leighton was a leading light. Painted a generation after Rossetti and Millais revived interest in chivalric tales of heroic knights, damsels in distress, romantic bards and mournful kings, Blair Leighton interpreted the same subjects without any loss of intensity. His paintings evoke the poetry of Tennyson and Malory's Morte d'Arthur but Stitching the Standard does not depict a particular Guinevere, or Lily Maid of Astolat; she is a nameless damsel of the Middle Ages with no story to tell.
About the Posters
Stitching the Standard - Edmund Leighton by Edmund Leighton. Our posters are produced on acid-free 220 GSM papers using archival inks to guarantee that they last a lifetime without fading or loss of color. All posters include a sufficent white border around the image to allow for future framing, if desired. Product will be shipped in 2-3 days