Led Zeppelin and Pre-Raphaelite Art

It turns out that gifted Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has a thing for Pre-Raphaelite art! I read the news on Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood yesterday and decided to do some more research into Jimmy Page's art collection.

I can't say that I'm that surprised...if you've ever listened to Led Zeppelin's music, you've probably noticed that the band was heavily inspired by Medieval/fantasy themes. Lead singer Robert Plant's favorite book was the Lord of the Rings and it's evident in their music. A number of their songs reference material from Lord of the Rings, including "Over the Hills and Far Away," "Misty Mountain Hop," "Battle of Evermore," and "Ramble On", with "Ramble On" being the most explicit.

Jimmy Page has stepped beyond admiration for the medieval and has become an avid collector of Pre-Raphaelite art (including at least one painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti). All of this has come into the news in the last couple of days as Page plans to auction one of the tapestries in his collection at Sothebys--the final scene from Edward Burne Jones' Holy Grail Tapestry (pictured above).

The piece is expected to fetch around $2 million at auction. It was originally designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and woven by Morris and Company's tapestry weavers. It took three weavers a full two years to complete. **edit**I guess it depends on who you ask. The New York Times reports that the 24 foot wide tapestry actually took eight men two years.

According to Page's art dealer-to-the-stars, Paul Reeves, (who has many hats, it appears--he also designed clothing for the Rolling Stones and Beatles, but has been a full time art dealer since 1976) Page is forced to sell because the wood panels on his Thames Mansion are too weak to support the tapestry. It seems more likely that he is in financial trouble, since he also plans to sell a gigantic set of Arthurian round table and chairs, and two sideboards at the same auction.

source: cbc.ca