Made by Anglo-Normans allegedly for the bishop Odo of Bayeux (1036-1097) in the 1070’s most likely in England, the Bayeux Tapestry represents perhaps the finest example of medieval art, historical record and embroidery. The “tapestry”-really an embroidered cloth-measures approximately nineteen and one half inches high and 321 feet long. Nearly fifty scenes of meticulous stitching in eight colors of wool thread on linen divided into thirteen sections, the Bayeux tapestry beautifully illustrates the life of Harold Godwinson, King of England (r. January-October 1066) until his cataclysmic defeat at the battle of Hastings by Duke William of Normandy (1028-1087) in 1066. According to Britain’s Bayeux Tapestry Museum of Reading website, first mention of the Bayeux Tapestry was in 1476 “when it was recorded in the cathedral treasury at Bayeux as a very long and narrow hanging on which are embroidered figures and inscriptions comprising a representation of the conquest of England”.While some doubt exists regarding the accuracy of the events depicted, the tapestry remains the best historical reference for the famous battle, and one of the finest examples of how the combination of art and literature can serve as a primary source in academic research.
The main frieze of the tapestry reveals the story of Harold’s life in linear style with reliably accurate illustrations of medieval dress and architecture. Animal themes, fables and scenes adorn the borders, many of which relate to the events on the main panel. Because the Bayeux Tapestry depicts minimal religious content or allusions, historians have called it a nonspiritual chanson de geste, Old French for “song of heroic deeds”. Author Suzanne Lewis argues “that the Bayeux Tapestry is one of the first large-scale visual narratives of the Middle Ages that, moreover, conveys medieval conceptions regarding the pictorial text. More than a reinterpretation of the historical evidence related to the Tapestry, Lewis’s study explores the visual and textual strategies and conventions that has made this work such a powerful statement for audiences over the centuries. In addition, the tapestry depicts several events which even today remain shrouded in mystery. Some of these include the true origin of Harold’s death, nude males, a priest and an unidentified woman engaging in a curious act, and the meaning of numerous captions among others. However, most notably, the tapestry depicts the first known image recorded of Halley’s Comet, then perceived as a spiritual omen.
Since its conception, artists have produced several replicas, as well as continuations and variations of the events portrayed on the tapestry. Although now old and steadily deteriorating, the Bayeux Tapestry remains proudly displayed in Bayeux, France, where it has been for the most part since the Middle Ages.
Edmund Carter III
Sources:
Amazon editorial review. “The Rhetoric of Power in the Bayeux Tapestry (Cambridge Studies in New Art History and Criticism).” . http://www.amazon.com/Rhetoric-Tapestry-Cambridge-Studies-Criticism/dp/1107403359.
Cohen, George. “1066: The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry.” The Booklist 101, no. 12 (Feb 15, 2005): 1054. http://search.proquest.com/docview/235502822?accountid=8289.
Crack, Ray. “Bayeux Tapestry Highlights.” Bayeux Tapestry Highlights.http://hastings1066.com/high1.shtml.
Ellis, Karen. “The Bayeux Tapestry.” Library Journal 129, no. 8 (May 01, 2004): 105.http://search.proquest.com/docview/196869217?accountid=8289.
Lewis, Suzzanne. “The Rhetoric of Power in the Bayeux Tapestry.” .http://faculty.risd.edu/bcampbel/Lewis_The%20Problematics%20of%20Genre%5B1%5D.pdf
Reading Museum Service. “The History of Britain’s Bayeux Tapestry.” The History of Britain’s Bayeux Tapestry. http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/BayeuxInfo.htm.