Agilulfo
The Nonexistent Knight
Five illustrations inspired by Italo Calvino's novel and his main fantastic character:
Agilulfo Emo Bertrandino of the Guildiverni and of the Others of Corbentraz and Sura, Knight of Selimpia Citeriore and Fez!
"Agilulfo seemed to hesitate a moment, then raised his visor with a slow but firm hand. The helmet was empty. No one was inside the white armour with its iridescent crest."
"He stood uncertainly behind one of the knights without taking part in their talk, then moved aside. Night was falling; the iridescent plumes on his crest now seemed all merged into a single indeterminate colour; but the white armour stood out isolated on the field. Agilulfo, as if feeling suddenly naked, made a gesture of crossing his arms and hugging his shoulders."
"As Rambaldo dragged a dead man along he thought, ‘Oh corpse, I have come rushing here only to be dragged along by the heels like you. What is this frenzy that drives me, this mania for battle and for love, when seen from the place where your staring eyes gaze and your flung-back head knocks over stones? [...] Anyway to you the dice have already shown their numbers. For me they are still whirling in the box. And I love my own disquiet, corpse, not your peace.’"
"The white armour now leant forward, and never till that moment had it shown itself so empty. The voice issuing from it was scarcely audible, ‘Yes, my emperor, I will go.’"
"The dragomen gave the alarm. But their heavy scimitars could do little against the agile sword of the warrior in white armour. And his shield sustained well the assault of a whole picket’s lances."
Agilulfo design
Agilulfo moving
Agilulfo design studies
Gurdulù design
Gurdulù design studies
Gurdulù design
Gurdulù color design
Rambaldo design
Rambaldo color design
Rambaldo design
Agilulfo's shield design and logo
English translation copyright © William Collins Sons & Company Ltd.