Heroic Arthur: Medieval Images of the Mythic King

Detail of "King Arthur ” (from the “Nine Heroes Tapestries”), circa 1400–1410, South Netherlandish. The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. (Public Domain)

King Arthur has captured the public’s imagination for centuries. Drawing on Welsh poetry and folktales from the late A.D. 500s to early 600s, cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the first major medieval historical account of Arthur in his “History of the Kings of Britain.”

This mid-12th-century book codified the basic foundation of Arthurian legend, which subsequent authors, in the Middle Ages and beyond, expanded upon in an array of chronicles featuring retellings and spin-offs. Narrative secular accounts of King Arthur and his court at Camelot became so widespread among all social classes that they were the most popular text, after the Bible, in medieval Europe. During this period, King Arthur was depicted in many media, including tapestry and manuscript paintings.

‘Nine Heroes Tapestries’

The Met Cloisters, known globally for its famous “Unicorn Tapestries” series, houses another medieval textile cycle that also exemplifies the artistic pinnacle of this medium. The “Nine Heroes Tapestries” is one of the oldest surviving tapestry works that dates to the Middle Ages, and it features a stunning depiction of King Arthur as one of the heroes.

This artwork was made in the first years of the 15th century and was woven of wool in the South Netherlands, modern-day Belgium. At the time of creation, it would have served a dual purpose: providing a decorative aesthetic as well as a means of interior insulation for the colder months.

Scholars have suggested it may have been part of the collection of Jean, Duke of Berry (1340–1416), one of the most important art patrons of the Middle Ages and the son of John II, King of France. However, conclusive proof of the original commissioner remains elusive.

"King Arthur" (from the “Nine Heroes Tapestries”), circa 1400–1410, South Netherlandish. Wool warp, wool wefts; 168 inches by 117 inches. The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. (Public Domain)

The Nine Heroes theme is an amalgamation of figures from antiquity as well as religious subjects that first appeared around 1312 in the manuscript “The Vows of the Peacock,” by the French poet Jacques de Longuyon. This literary idea of nine men that symbolize and inspire chivalry, valor, and wisdom became a popular motif for artworks created in late medieval Europe.

Also referred to as “Nine Worthies,” this cycle of tapestries is a mix of legendary and historic figures drawn from classical (Hector of Troy, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar); Jewish (Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabeus), and Christian (King Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon) traditions.

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The “Nine Heroes Tapestries” was originally composed of three large horizonal hangings that each featured a trio of protagonists. Given the inherent fragility of the material, only five hero sequences have survived, including that of “King Arthur.” The mythic royal is identifiable by the coat of arms he wears, three crowns against a blue background.

In the tapestry, King Arthur sits enthroned underneath a vaulted space. He is surrounded by bishops and cardinals beneath smaller canopies. These Gothic architectural elements, which also include crenellation and tracery windows, were employed to give the allusion of spatial depth as well as to frame individuals.

At some point in the 500-year history of the “Nine Heroes Tapestries,” the work was cut into pieces. In the early 20th century, the surviving parts were patched together to make curtains for a French noble family’s castle. The tapestry series was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1930s and 1940s, and by then it was in a total of 94 fragments.

It fell to museum curators to figure out how the tapestry parts should be reconstructed. A team of four highly skilled needlewomen carried out this process by cutting, reassembling, piercing, and relining this important artwork. The “King Arthur” tapestry had not been touched by The Met since these restoration efforts concluded in 1949.

The museum’s current Textile Conservation Department embarked on a major preservation effort of “King Arthur” in 2019 that lasted until 2022. The goal was to clean, stabilize, and reweave unsound areas of the piece, and the end result is a notably brighter and livelier impression.

In “King Arthur,” the woven Arthur is depicted as a Christian ruler, although the original tales were secular; this is why he is shown in the tapestry surrounded by clergymen. As explained by Peter Barnet and Nancy Wu in their book “The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture,” these secondary figures “are comparable to similarly marginalized and equally elusive figures often found in … manuscript paintings.”

Visuals of King Arthur himself, albeit as prominent images, also feature in medieval manuscripts. These tales, immortalized on parchment, vellum, and paper, were handwritten, and some were also made with painted images to highlight the text.

Arthurian Manuscripts

An illustration from the illustrated manuscript "Rochefoucauld Grail," 14th century. (Public Domain)

Manuscripts about King Arthur, prized in the time of their creation, remain highly valued today. In 2010, “The Rochefoucauld Grail,” an illuminated manuscript containing images made with precious metals, surpassed its high estimate to sell for 2.4 million pounds at Sotheby’s. This work, from the first part of the 14th century, is considered to be the oldest comprehensive account about the King Arthur legends that survives.

The manuscript is composed of three large volumes that contain 107 jewel-like illustrations. These images reflect scenes of chivalry, courtly love, and battle. At the time of sale, Timothy Bolton, a Sotheby’s specialist, said, “The scenes often have a riotous energy, and often stretch beyond the boundaries of the picture frames, with lofty towers poking through the borders at the top, and figures tumbling out of the miniatures on to the blank page as they fall or scramble to escape their enemies.” 

In a recent academic literary study that utilized scientific statistical models, researchers concluded that over 90 percent of medieval manuscripts of chivalry and heroism have been lost over the centuries. This makes surviving manuscripts all the more miraculous.

The British Library houses more than 40 Arthurian manuscripts. Exemplary examples from this institution include a copy of Norman poet Wace’s “History of Britain” from the second quarter of the 14th century. This work is based on Geoffrey of Monmouth’s earlier Arthur text, but with added elements that are now quintessential, such as the Round Table. The Library’s manuscript portrays Arthur’s exploits in a sequence of narrative images. There are nearly 100 colored pen drawings, and the figures are noted for their expressive faces.

(L) The coronation of King Arthur in Wace’s “Roman de Brut” (“History of Britain”), 14th century. (R) Gawain’s return to court from “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” one of four anonymous poems in the Gawain manuscript. The British Library, London. (British Library Board/CC BY 4.0 DEED)Another extraordinary manuscript at the British Library is a book from 1400 that features scenes of King Arthur crowned in a blue robe in a narrative about Sir Gawain, a knight at his court. This manuscript was part of a famed British collection that caught fire in 1731. Although many important works were destroyed, this artwork survived.

Looking to continental Europe, a German codex from 1372 features exquisite Arthurian images. This book, owned by the University of Leiden, details a specific romance tale and is the oldest illustrated version of its kind. It has half-page and full-page manuscript paintings in vibrant colors with fairy-tale like imagery. Art historians believe that the stylistic composition of the images was influenced by medieval tapestries.

Tales of King Arthur have had staying power despite the changing popular taste, and they continue to be a cultural touchstone. Raluca Radulescu, a professor of medieval literature at Bangor University, suggests their timeless appeal is because they embody “a standard of moral integrity” that is hard to find in the real world. Examining medieval tapestry and manuscripts vividly supports Arthur’s chivalric, mythic image.

German manuscript detailing the Arthurian romance of Wigalois, 1372, by Jan con Bruswick, according to the colophon (fol. 117v). University of Leiden, Germany. (Collection Leiden University Libraries/ CC BY 4.0 DEED)

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