Tapestry Information

Many tapestries depict scenes from history, like events leading up to the invasion of England in medieval times.

Tapestries are large woven wall hangings that have an extensive history all the way back to Greek civilization. The Middle Ages was when tapestry production was in full force. Tapestries decorated walls, hid doorways and insulated rooms from the cold in castles and churches, and only the rich could afford them. Individual pieces started out small and ended up an elaborate 10 by 5 yards in a series of up to 10 tapestries.

Early History

Tapestries first appeared during the Hellenic period in Greece. They were woven by hand without the use of the loom and were very simple in nature. Medieval tapestries made in Europe benefited from using a loom, and most told stories. Many came in a series of several tapestries to tell the story. Tapestry weaving was an art in Paris until the Hundred Years War, when weavers took refuge in Belgium, Holland and northern France. Tapestries were not just beautiful but functional as well. In a time of no central heating, they covered open doorways and windows to alleviate drafts. They were also hung around beds to keep the chill out and warmth in.

Later History

In the 1500s, Pope Leo X commissioned a tapestry from artist Raphael that changed the way tapestries were made. Prior to this, tapestries were done free hand, but now they were patterned after an artist's rendering. Raphael's tapestry series was different because most tapestries had only a few colors, but this series consisted of 300 shades. During the 17th century, many of the old tapestries perished -- burned to extract gold and silver thread.

Thread and Loom

Tapestries were made from English or French wool with silk and metal thread. Two types of looms created tapestries. The high warp loom ran warp, or threads, vertically in between two rollers. The top roller held the unworked threads while the bottom held the finished tapestry. Low warp looms ran warp threads horizontally in between two rollers. The weaver worked on the backside of the tapestry, passing a shuttle wrapped with thread through the warp threads. A foot petal controlled the weaving.

Process

An artist created a pattern called a cartoon for the tapestry. The weaver dyed the threads and set up the loom. The cartoon hung on the wall behind the weaver when using a high warp loom, and the weaver looked in the reflection of a mirror to create the tapestry. The cartoon was cut into strips and placed between the warp threads in a low warp loom. When a section was complete, the strip was removed and the next one inserted.

Famous Tapestries

The oldest surviving tapestry is the "Apocalypse of Angers," woven in 1379, consisting of seven large hangings. Another well-known early work is the series called the "Lady and the Unicorn." The "Bayeux" tapestry was completed in 1476 and was a pictorial description of the events leading up to the Norman invasion of England. "Acts of the Apostles" was the name of Raphael's tapestry. Other famous tapestries include "The Last Supper" and "The Trojan War."

References

• The Tapestry House: Medieval Tapestry
• From Times Past: A Brief History of Tapestries
• Wall Tapestry Zone: How to Make Tapestries
• Metropolitan Museum of Art; How Medieval and Renaissance Tapestries Were Made; Thomas P. Campbell
• Tapestries-Tapestry: Wall Hanging Art
• The Art Institute of Chicago: Tapestry Design and Weaving

Resources

• All Art; Tapestries; Nicolas de Bataille