Friendship is at the heart of many of Jones’ inscriptions. He created several of them for close friends and often to commemorate significant personal events. This inscription was made for the Welsh poet and politician Saunders Lewis (1893-1985); it is a celebration of their friendship as well as an implicitly political painting in the way that it equates Llewelyn and Lewis with one another. The text also speaks to many of the issues and interests that the two men shared with one another over the course of their long friendship, namely the last sovereign Prince of Wales Llewelyn ap Grufudd (died 11 December 1282) and all that he epitomized. Jones’ fascination with this prince whose death heralded the loss of Welsh political freedom is evident in his poetry, letters, essays and artworks, including other painted inscriptions, such as Cara Wallia Derelicta.
Saunders Lewis also became one of Jones’ most important interlocutors, and particularly of his lesser known and lesser understood painted inscriptions. The archive of their correspondence held at the NLW offers a vivid insight into how they both perceived these inscriptions, as well as wider issues around Wales, the Welsh language and Welshness.