Hic Iacet Arturus (Here Lies Arthur)

This work belongs to a group of experimental inscriptions made in the late forties when Jones started seriously working on inscriptions for the first time as an art form. The text is from Malory's Morte Darthur 'here lies Arthur, the once and future King'. Jones is seen here experimenting both technically with the use of pencil on wax crayon and also with the letter forms which show an influence of early medieval inscriptions. Hills comments 'He was not, however, I am sure, trying to recreate an historic style, his reaction to the Romano-Celtic connotations of the Arthurian myth was much more personal and complex.' (Exhibition catalogue, David Jones, London, 1981, p. 129).