The Marriage of Sir Gawain
Date1902
Artist
Bertha Corson Day
(American painter and illustrator, 1875–1968)
Illustration Citation"The Marriage of Sir Gawain," in Where the Wind Blows, by Katharine Pyle (New York: R.H. Russell, 1902)
MediumInk and watercolor on paper
Dimensionscomposition: 18 5/8 × 13 3/8 in. (47.3 × 34 cm)
sheet: 23 1/16 × 17 1/2 in. (58.6 × 44.5 cm)
sheet: 23 1/16 × 17 1/2 in. (58.6 × 44.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Marshall Cole, 1988
Object number1988-179
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextKatharine Pyle, the author of the book for which these illustrations were created, and Bertha Corson Day, the illustrator, had been classmates in the study of art at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women and again later in Howard Pyle’s illustration classes at the Drexel Institute. Some of Corson Day’s most important designs were created for Katharine Pyle’s collection of fairy tales Where the Wind Blows. In "The Marriage of Sir Gawain" an ugly hag has aided King Arthur. In exchange Sir Gawain will become her husband. During the marriage ceremony the hag transforms into a beautiful princess, and awestruck, Gawain kneels beside her.
