David Jones (1895-1974) was an English-born artist and poet of Welsh descent, and much of his work was inspired by medieval legend and influenced by the tragic events of the First World War, in which he fought. This particular image, intended as an illustration to Sir Thomas Malory's late-15th-century English epic romance, Morte d'Arthur, may, however, have a more personal meaning. It shows a lost man and a distant, unattainable woman. Jones had been engaged to Petra Gill, daughter of the sculptor Eric Gill, but she broke off the engagement in 1927, marrying someone else in 1930, the year this print was made. Jones's style is characterised by a linear quality, both in his prints and paintings.