Summary
The other day, I asked a friend, “Hey, what do normal people put on their walls?” The answer…is tapestries. Cold, stony castle? Tapestries. Small, plain cathedral? Tapestries. A house of some sort? Probably also tapestries. In this episode, Em and Dr. Jesse talk over how tapestries are made, famous tapestries from around the world, and the use of color in Medieval society. Join us!
Notes
1/ For more on textiles, see episode 33 (on women artisans) and episode 54 note 15 (on the Bayeux Tapestry).
2/ Rather than getting caught up on horizontal vs vertical terminology, just keep in mind that the warp is what goes on the loom and the weft is the part you weave with.
3/ Tang Dynasty (618–907CE) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_dynasty
Zhu Kerou (fl.12th century). See her famous “Butterfly and Camellia” silk tapestry here: https://thenewhistoria.org/schema/zhu-kerou/
4/ Uyghurs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghurs
5/ The medieval Andes! Huari tapestry images from a museum exhibition.
Huari / Wari: fl. 500/600–1000 CE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wari_culture
6/ Greek painting of sculptures is called polychromy.
https://youtu.be/86PD8o6xe_4
The MET in NYC has recently decided to get on board with this and now has an exhibit about polychromy (which they’re touting like it’s a new discovery 🙄).
7/ Check out the Bayeux Tapestry close up! https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry
8/ The Barnes Museum in Philadelphia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_Foundation (discusses the legal challenges and controversy of the museum’s move)
9/ The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries at the Musée de Cluny (see episode 29, note 24 and episode 30, note 21).
10/ The hunting of the unicorn tapestries at The Cloisters in NYC.
11/ Raphael (1483–1520): not just a ninja turtle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael
12/ Pieter van Aelst (c.1495–c.1560). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_van_Aelst_III
13/ Mathilda episodes: episode 58 (Long Live the Queen)
14/ Episodes on England before 1066: episodes 53 (England Before the Norman Invasion) and 54 (More England, More Normans).
15/ The Bayeux Tapestry links:
https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry
16/ Beowulf episode here: episode 56
17/ Em’s newsletter.
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