The Four Stages of Knighthood
The Vox Populi, or Acclamation
'Vox Populi' (1904)
Edmund Blair Leighton
Current location: private collection
Proclaiming a young contender.
(Blair Leighton's actual description for this painting was: "Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, showing her son, the Prince of Wales, to the people in order to gain adherents to the Lancastrian cause. The Prince was slain at the battle of Tewkesbury, and Margaret at the same time taken prisoner.")
The Dedication
'The Dedication' (1908)
Edmund Blair Leighton
Current location: unknown
Knight and woman kneeling in a chapel; the knight holding his sword in act of dedication; the woman in attitude of prayer.
The Accolade
'The Accolade' (1901)
Edmund Blair Leighton
Current location: private collection
The accolade, one of the ceremonies attending the giving of knighthood, was a blow on the shoulder or back of the neck with the sword or the flat of the hand. It was followed by the charge to the knight to be brave, true and loyal. Knighthood was sometimes conferred upon the battle field. The knight is attired in armor of chain mail. Note the sharp pointed shoes. During the reigns of Henry I and Stephen shoes were very much lengthened at the toes.
(Blair Leighton said that the inspiration for this painting came from a French work on chivalry, which mentioned that even ladies occasionally conferred the order of knighthood on worthy men.)
The God Speed
'God Speed' (1900)
Edmund Blair Leighton
Current location: private collection
A young woman is tying her scarf on the arm of a mounted knight who is about to depart through a gate of a castle; the knight wears armor of chain mail, a mantle and helmet with vizor raised. It was customary for a knight to wear a token of his lady love; sometimes her glove or scarf was fastened to his helmet or one of her sleeves to his shoulder.
(Blair Leighton said this picture owed its origin to the wish to paint a certain arrangement of figures and background).
Blair Leighton Today
Blair Leighton was regarded as an "outsider" artist in the 19th century as he never received full recognition for his work from institutions such as the Royal Academy. His artistic legacy is kept alive at ArtMagick though :) Browse more paintings at
http://www.artmagick.com/pictures/artist.aspx?artist=edmund-blair-leighton
Blair Leighton died in 1922 and you can visit his grave at Chiswick Old Cemetery in London (his gravestone is located quite close to James Whistler's ornate tomb).