God Speed by Edmund Leighton
God Speed! by Edmund Leighton
God Speed is a painting by British artist Edmund Leighton, depicting an armored knight departing to war and leaving his beloved. The painting was exhibited in the Royal Academy of Arts in 1900. God Speed was the first of several paintings by Leighton in the 1900s on the subject of chivalry, the others being The Accolade and The Dedication.
The woman ties a red sash around the knight’s arm, which he is meant to return, a medieval custom which assured both parties that they would be reunited, alive and well. A griffin on the newel post of the stairs is a symbol of strength and military courage. The knight departs through a castle gate with portcullis; others can be seen leaving through the gate
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Edmund Blair Leighton (21 September 1852 – 1 September 1922) was an English painter of historical genre scenes, specializing in Regency and medieval subjects.
Leighton was the son of the artist Charles Blair Leighton. He was educated at University College School, before becoming a student at the Royal Academy Schools. He married Katherine Nash in 1885 and they went on to have a son and daughter. He exhibited annually at the Royal Academy from 1878 to 1920.
Leighton was a fastidious craftsman, producing highly finished, decorative pictures, displaying romanticized scenes with a popular appeal. It would appear that he left no diaries, and though he exhibited at the Royal Academy for over forty years, he was never an Academician or an Associate.
About the Middle-ages
The Middle Ages, which are said to have lasted from approximately the 5th to the 15th century, saw massive social and economic change, as well as significant developments in agriculture and medicine. Yet childbirth, famine and bad weather threatened the survival of ordinary people, and reminders of death were ever-present in life and art.
About Chivalry
The code of chivalry that developed in medieval Europe had its roots in earlier centuries. It arose in the Holy Roman Empire from the idealisation of the cavalryman—involving military bravery, individual training, and service to others—especially in Francia, among horse soldiers in Charlemagne’s cavalry. The term chivalry derives from the Old French term chevalerie, which can be translated to “horse soldiery”. Gautier states that knighthood emerged from the Moors as well as the Teutonic forests and was nurtured into civilization and chivalry by the Catholic Church.
