The current King Arthur movie apparently has a typical Hollywoodian butchering of fact and history in the introduction of a "new" Guenevere as a Pictish princess.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I keep running into people, who knowing my interest in Pictish history, keep telling me about Hollywood's first ever depiction of Pictish people on film.
The Picts were a real people and I have been working on a book about their singularly unique art for several years now (actually since 1989). Learn more about them at Pictish Nation.
Some of my drawings migrated from their designs are here, and more recent drawings visualizing their tattoos are here.
And having recently seen the spectacular Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya at the NGA, I've decided to contact the NGA and see if I can get someone interested in bringing - for the first time ever outside of Scotland - an exhibition of Pictish art and maybe even some of their sculptured stones to the US.
Article comments
1 - Geoffrey Adams
Dear Sir,
I spent part of Summer 2001 moving about eastern Scotland examining Pictish monuments first-hand, and appreciate anyone who appreciates Picts. But I would remind you that this is not Hollywood's "first ever" depiction of Picts. A delightfully awful epic production of the 50's called "Knights of the Round Table" has a rather stone-age depiction of "Picts," under their leader "Mar," battling the 14th-century knights of King Arthur. The "Celts" in Kevin Costner's somewhat regrettable "Robin Hood" seem to have reincorporated some Hollywood Pictish canards. Not to mention the Robert E. Howard fantasy Pict-type in the opening scenes of "Conan the Barbarian." (Red hair and lots of tattoos.) But just what was with that face-paint in "Braveheart"? Oh well. Feel free to write.
Geoffrey Adams