Elaine Calzolari’s (1950-2009) multi-part granite sculpture installation “Astolat” was formally dedicated to the University of Denver on June 22, 2012. The dedication was performed by Calzolari’s daughter Miranda Paley and Chancellor Robert D. Coombe. Closing remarks were provided by Dan Jacobs, Gallery Director and Curator of University Art Collections. An excerpt from the program:
The title refers to Elaine of Astolat, a figure in Arthurian romance whose unrequited love for Lancelot leads to her death from grief. The depth of her passion was saluted by King Arthur and his court as her funeral boat passed Camelot, steered downriver by her father. Astolat continues a long line of artistic treatments of the story, which indluded Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shallot.” Elaine Calzolari expressed her strong identification with Astolat towards the end of her life, calling it her most important sculpture.
The sculpture was acquired by partial gift in 1999 from the Autterson family and by exchange through a generous gift from Frederick and Jan Mayer.