A Chivalry of Knights (or a Rout of Knights)

 The Knights Trail in Lincoln has finished now and has been very successful - apparently more people came to see the Knights than the Barons (two years ago).   We didn't manage to  go on the trail but saw lots of the Knights in their places around the city.  They are now together for a reunion in Lincoln Castle until they are auctioned on Saturday.  I took the opportunity to head up to the Castle to see them all.

 They did look very impressive, forming a guard of honour along the road.

 There were lots of themes, some based around Lincoln and Lincolnshire and some more to do with word play around 'Knights'.

 You can see my friend Rachael's Knight here... (and posts about him/her here and here)

 ...and here.

 Of course, Rachael's was my favourite, but I liked several of the others too.  'The Knight has a thousand eyes' - see what they did there?  This was by Sue Guthrie and the eyes were painted in phosphorescent paint so that they shone at night.

 The fields of Lincolnshire made an appearance on a few.

Others were just really colourful.

 Somehow I had missed this one, which was beautiful.  It was based on images from The Luttrell Psalter and was covered in these weird and wonderful creatures.  It was also painted by Sue Guthrie.

 The artist had painted the images with great skill.

 I liked the more muted colours too.

 There were a few Lady Knights, like this one.

 It was lovely to be able to see them all together.

 I wonder who will buy them on Saturday?

Unfortunately, two of the artists who worked on the Knights have died since completing them. Apparently, flowers have been laid by the Knights as a tribute - what a lovely idea.  Some of the Knights had a few adventures as there was some vandalism (why can't people leave things alone?) and one ended up in the river.  However, they were rescued and restored and looked as good as ever.  There was also an Education Trail for Lincolnshire Schools, who were invited to decorate half sized Knights.  They are on show in the local shopping centre. (If you aren't fed up looking at photos, here they are...)

 The Schools had done a great job with them.

 Lots of them had inspirational words as part of the design.

 I liked the artist Knight on the left of the photo, riding a unicorn.

This Knight had turned into a King, using keys as his crown.

 This one had mosaic tiles with tiny drawings on them.

This one used a bit of pointillism, and his horse was covered in faces of the pupils.  It has been so fascinating to see all the Knights and to follow the progress of Rachael's.  I will keep an eye out to see the auction results.