Page "Holy Grail" Paragraph 35

The story of the Grail and of the quest to find it became increasingly popular in the 19th century, referred to in literature such as Alfred Tennyson's Arthurian cycle the Idylls of the King.

The combination of hushed reverence, chromatic harmonies and sexualized imagery in Richard Wagner's late opera Parsifal gave new significance to the grail theme, for the first time associating the grail – now periodically producing blood – directly with female fertility.

The high seriousness of the subject was also epitomized in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's painting ( illustrated ), in which a woman modelled by Jane Morris holds the Grail with one hand, while adopting a gesture of blessing with the other.

A major mural series depicting the Quest for the Holy Grail was done by the artist Edwin Austin Abbey during the first decade of the 20th century for the Boston Public Library.

Other artists, including George Frederic Watts and William Dyce also portrayed grail subjects.