[Gahmuret with the Moorish Queen Belacane]

Proof taken from the original wood block at Gregynog in 1936. From a set of twelve illustrations for Wolfram von Eschenbach's (d. c.1230) narrative poem 'Parzival'. The blocks for the illustrations were engraved by Mrozewski between September 1933 and June 1934 whilst living in Amsterdam. They were never published in his lifetime. In 1990 Gwasg Gregynog published 'The Romance of Parzival and the Holy Grail', designed by David Esslemont and with an introduction by Carl Lofmark. This proof was reproduced - by offset lithography at Westerham Press, Kent - for one of the illustrations. The volume was published in an edition of 210 at £240. Ten of these had a special binding by James Brockman? Eschenbach's poem was the inspiration behind Richard Wagner's 'Parsival'. Eschenbach's tale begins with the career of Parzival's father Gahmuret the Angevin. In the first illustration, Mrozewski combines two characteristics of Gahmuret through a halved print. These depict his adventurous campaigns in exotic eastern lands, represented by the many soldiers, and his reputation for leaving broken hearts behind - through an intimate bedroom scene, heightened by the dominant size of Gahmuret and a knight seen locking the door