1media/tristan isolde tile.png2021-10-21T06:43:40-07:00What is this?29image_header2023-01-14T09:59:00-08:00 This tile is one in a series of Tristan tiles from Chertsey Abbey in Surrey, England. The Tristan series was laid alongside the combat series at Chertsey.
Tristan was an Arthurian knight. This tile, showing Tristan's lover Isolde, suggests their forbidden love in medieval Celtic legend. It shows Isolde’s journey to Brittany to aid Tristan who had been wounded in battle. Isolde wears a hat, at center right. This two-color round tile (roundel) was part of a mosaic of different tile shapes used for the floor of Chertsey Abbey's chapter house. The roundel was set in a square frame. The square frame was fired in four parts which were then laid around the roundel, enclosing it.
The floral corners in the square frame act as a visual mechanism to connect this tile to the others around it. With this tile’s warm tones and foliate corners, it stands in contrast with the figural scene in its center. Stiff-leaved foliage and fleurs-de-lis, or lily flowers, are found on the frame. Golden varnish on the surface of the tile increases its visual grandeur. A host of motifs, including mythical creatures, are inscribed on the circular band of this framing tile. This circular band sometimes contained Anglo-Norman descriptions narrating Tristan and Isolde's story. In this case, however, these mythical creatures provide an aura of uncertainty and of the supernatural. It's as if these mythical creatures are overlooking Isolde on her journey to Brittany.
