The culminating scene of the Holy Grail series originally occupied the entire back wall in the dining room at Stanmore Hall, where built-in serving tables precluded there being an accompanying verdure; the bottom right corner of the tapestry also had to be truncated to allow for a door. 1 In Burne- Jones's description: "And of all the hundred and fifty that went on the Quest, three only are chosen and may set foot on that shore, Bors, Percival, and Galahad. Of these Bors and Percival may see the Grail afar off — three big angels bar their way, and one holds the spear that bleeds; that is the spear that entered Christ's side, and it bleeds always. You know by its appearing that the Graal [sic] is near. And then comes Galahad who alone may see it — and to see it is death, for it is seeing the face of God." 2 Although there are some discrepancies — the vision takes place within the court of King Pelles, and there are four angels — Burne-Jones generally keeps to the spirit of Malory. Galahad is surrounded by lilies, symbolizing purity, while within the Chapel the Holy Ghost, in the form of a rushing wind, deposits drops of blood into the Grail. 1. A photograph of the tapestry in situ is reproduced in Parry 1983, p. 116; the original Attainment, along with The Arming and Departure of the Knights also from the Stanmore Hall set, is reproduced in Victoria and Albert Museum 1996, no. M.130. 2. Memorials, vol. 2, p. 209.
This scale design was enlarged photographically and the photograph was used as the cartoon for the weaving (Now in William Morris Gallery) The setting for the present scene has much in common with a number of sketches in the Secret Book of Designs (British Museum)not only in fully worked out variant compositions p 456 and 457, variants of the angles p 458 and p 459 but also in a series of atmospheric landscape sketches p 353, 354 and 355.
A worked up preliminary study for the tapestry. It lacks the decorative details of the tapestry such as jewels on the clothes. This details would have been supplied at a later stage by John Henry Dearle. Unlike the elaborate copy of the Tassilo chalice which appears in the tapestry, the communion cup here is quite simple.The donor sister, Katie Lewis, was a favourite correspondent of Burne-Jones when she was a child. Burne-Jones also painted portraits of both sisters, now in private collections. Morris & Co. had received a commission from an Australian mining millionaire, W.K. D'Arcy, to furnish his house, Stanmore Hall, near Uxbridge. It had a large dining room and Morris pursuaded him to make use of tapestry to cover the walls. On undertaking to decorate the room in this way, Morris asked Burne-Jones to draw cartoons for a series based on the Holy Grail legend. The set consisted of five large panels, a smaller one of a ship, and a dado of verdure with the knights' shields hanging from the trees. The five scenes were as follows:The Knights of the Round Table Summoned to the Quest by a Strange DamselThe Arming and Departure of the KnightsThe Failure of Sir LancelotThe Failure of Sir GawaineThe Achievement of Sir Galahad Accompanied by Sir Bors and Sir Percival This cartoon was presented to Birmingham in 1949 by Mrs. Gertrude Burney, whose sister, Katie Lewis, was a favourite correspondent of Burne-Jones when she was a child. Burne-Jones also painted portraits of both sisters, now in private collections.