The Bayeux Tapestry: Monument to a Norman Triumph

Description

180 pages with 93 color and 41 black-and-white illustrations. Translated from the German by David Britt. The Bayeux Tapestry, the world-famous embroidered work over 73 meters long on display in the northern French town, depicts the Norman conquest of England in the year 1066. The tapestry is arguably the most important, but certainly one of the most enigmatic works of art of the early Middle Ages, providing the viewer with an unparalleled insight into this dramatic historical event. The exquisite tapestry depicts the protagonists, Duke William of Normandy (William the Conqueror), and his half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, sailing across the English Channel and confronting the Anglo-Saxon king, Harold of Wessex, at the Battle of Hastings. The tapestry is now seen as much more of a milestone in Western art than had previously been thought. It demonstrates exceptional artistic experimentation in its depiction of everyday reality, nature, and contemporary issues. The narrative cycle impressively presents the early Normans’ view of the world, their notion of their historical role, and their sense of national pride. The dominant view up to now has been that the tapestry was produced in an Anglo-Saxon workship in post-conquest England. Backed up by meticulous research on all aspects of the Bayeux Tapestry, the author has succeeded in revising this theory. With a vividness approaching that of a historical novel, he brilliantly argues the case that the tapestry originated in Bayeux itself. The Bayeux Tapestry: An Eleventh-Century Pictorial Spectacle I. An Extraordinary Tapestry 23 II. Reportage or Imagination? 24 III. Living Detail 28 IV. New Pictorial Inventions 30 The‘Last Supper’ in the Norman Camp • Hunting Scenes • Drolleries V The Ships 33 VI. Open Questions 39 VII. The Borders 41 VIII. Anglo-Saxon Workmanship? 44 IX. The Iconographical Programme: A Norman Viewpoint 54 X. Inscriptions 59 XI. Baudri of Bourgueil and the Tapestry 61 XII. The Embroidery Technique and its Norse Antecedents 62 XIII. Traditions of Viking Art 63 XIV. Narrative Techniques 68 XV. A Pioneer Work 73 XVI. The Status of Secular Art 76 XVII. A Work of Norman Pictorial Propaganda 77 Plates 89 Map 170 Chronology 171 Index of Names 173