Friday Focus - Medieval Myths and Legends
Join us in this online talk, as we explore our latest rotation of works on paper in the Hunterian Art Gallery.
Date: Friday 20 February 2026
Time: 13:00 - 13:30
Venue: Online
Category: Hunterian
Speaker: Joseph Sharples
The latest rotation of works on paper at the Hunterian Art Gallery includes a fascinating group of drawings, prints and photographs on medieval themes. There are images of lovelorn maidens, holy saints, jousting knights and imprisoned princesses. Most are based on literary sources, including the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson and Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. Among the artists represented are leading Pre-Raphaelite William Holman Hunt and ‘Glasgow Girl’ Jessie Marion King, as well as Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald.
Joseph Sharples, The Hunterian’s Mackintosh Curator, will explore how and why these artists were attracted to the Middle Ages, a world utterly different from the secular, industrial society of the 19th and early 20th centuries in which they lived. Was it simply a question of escapism, or was it something more?
Book your free place via Eventbrite.
About Friday Focus
Friday Focus is an online talks series hosted by The Hunterian, University of Glasgow. Each session features a different speaker, sharing a deeper insight into our exhibitions and collections, research and work going on behind the scenes at The Hunterian.
The talks take place at 1pm over Zoom, and are 25 minutes long with time for questions afterwards. Recordings of the sessions will be made available on our YouTube channel.