Bayeux Tapestry

The “Nativity” Tapestry of Győr
The central theme of the most beautiful Pre-renaissance tapestry of the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest is the Nativity that offers such a late medieval type of representation where the new-born savior laying on the ground is adored by Holy Mary and angels. The exact parallel of this tapestry can be found in the Museo Diocesano of Trento as the first
piece of a seven-piece series demonstrating mainly the Passion of Christ.
The relevant tapestry, which is kept in Budapest today, was put in the highlight from the Cathedral of Győr in 1889 and it can surely be identified as one of the five or six tapestries that – according to our sources – had been taken to the Cathedral as part of the heritage of
Demeter naprághy in 1619. The tapestry was bought by emperor and king Francis Joseph I in 1904, who presented it to the Association of Museum Friends and they gave it to the Museum of Hungarian
Applied Arts as a permanent deposit in 1914.
The present study aims to identify the designer of the tapestry as Jan van Roome of Brussels, while on the other hand, it also tries to  reconstruct the history of the object at the beginning of the 17th century in the light of the available sources.

A tapeçaria no mundo medieval, consistiu em um dos mais importantes elementos de registros históricos das sociedades daquele período, muitas continham eventos marcantes, celebrações e até mesmo de cunho religioso, na Escandinávia naquele período algumas dessas peças continham eventos associados a mitologia nórdica e a vida cotidiana de seus habitantes, há maior parte delas provém do período de ascensão do cristianismo naquela região, bem como de regiões que possuíam descendentes dos nórdicos, como a França, a Rússia, a Inglaterra, etc. E somente dois exemplares até o momento são oriundos da chamada Era Viking, conheça um pouco sobre elas, bem como as atuais tapeçarias que são realizadas nos dias de hoje.
Palavras chave: Tapeçaria, Era Viking, Registro Histórico, Normandos, Escandinávia.

Beeches had a variety of uses in medieval times. The wood was a source of fuel and the woodlands were used to turn out pigs. Beech nuts were a food, collected for winter use from beech orchards. The wood was too soft to use as a building material, but was used for writing on – hence the Anglo-Saxon word 'boc' (beech/book). 1 There are 37 trees or groups of trees on the tapestry and it has been widely noticed that trees are used as scene endings. 2 Beeches favour free draining soils such as chalk, limestone, or light loams, which is why they have grown naturally in England below the line that stretches from the Wash to the Severn. This also predisposes the trees to grow on banks or ramparts. In her analysis of the tapestry trees, ancient tree specialist Jill Butler has written that 'the buds on the trees vary, differentiating at least oak and ash trees, the compartmentalisation of the trunks seems to be emphasised by the coloured stripes and even the hollowing of the trunks has been captured.' As far as I am aware no one has yet identified any of the trees on the tapestry as beeches. This article attempts to identify a number of beech trees in the tapestry, which might lend support for Simon Coleman's site at Beech Farm as the proposed battlefield site. I will also discuss the last scene of the tapestry in relation to Malfosse. Malfosse and the Forest The last scene of the Bayeux Tapestry (above) depicts what happened after Harold died and the battle was over. One version of events is that the chase led the remaining soldiers into nearby forest and probably to Malfosse. The scene features a large tree that divides the action on the left of the scene from that on the right. Lucien Musset has commented that 'the tree which separates the hunters from the hunted looks nothing like the rest of the trees on the tapestry'. 3 Musset has a point – the tree is distinctive – but I would disagree that there is no resemblance to other trees, and I will return to this later. The terrain changes (from left to right in the scene above) from bumpy uneven ground (the battlefield) to what looks like a woodland floor (suggested by the brown wavy line) where there is a large tree. The position of the tree three quarters of the way along the scene suggests that it symbolises the entry 1

The conquest of England by the Normans in the year 1066 has been described by the renowned English historian, Frederic William Maitland, as being a catastrophe which determined the entire future of English law. This traditional view of legal history has regarded the primary source of modem English law as being of Anglo-Norman origin and has often overlooked the valuable contributions made to it by the antecedent Anglo-Saxon customary law. The purpose of this article is to rectify this deficiency and to examine, in some detail, the operation of the Anglo-Saxon legal system.

L'arazzo di Bayeux è un'opera molto studiata, i cui bordi però hanno suscitato l'attenzione degli studiosi solo negli ultimi anni. Le figure che incorniciano l'arazzo sono numerose, per la maggior parte sono animali o creature fantastiche ma anche personaggi ritratti nudi in varie posizioni.
La mia attenzione si è focalizzata su queste figure, in particolare l'uomo con l'ascia, per capire il loro significato.

Bayeux Tapestry also is known as Bayeux Embroidery was one of the most important and interesting artworks which is one of the rare non-religious examples of Early Christian Romanesque art. The embroidery tells the history of Britain, captured by Normans at the end of Hastings Battle in 1066, from a Norman point of view. When the Bayeux embroidery was criticized, emerged different problems and question marks. One of these was the "blue horses." In the European art, blue horses probably appeared first time on the Bayeux embroidery. In this paper will focus on the issue with blue horses' problem which does not have symbolic meaning and early use in the European art. To resolve the problem, blue horses meaning, and usage will be seen on Oriental art and especially in the Turkish art and mythology

El Tapiz de Bayeux es una obra única, ya que no existe otro bordado de tales dimensiones conservado del siglo XI. Además, en él se nos narra cómo Guillermo el Conquistador decidió invadir Inglaterra para conseguir el trono de este reino, que había sido usurpado por Haroldo. Esta fue la segunda y última conquista permanente de Inglaterra después de la de los romanos. Otra de las singularidades del Tapiz es también la amplia literatura que su estudio ha generado.
Desde un punto de vista de la narración visual, la obra se encuadra perfectamente en los códigos de la iconografía medieval, algo que se pone de manifiesto si la comparamos con otra obra coetáneas que transcriben relatos en imágenes. No obstante, dado que su extenso ciclo figurativo encuentra un perfecto paralelo en las fuentes literarias que relatan esos mismos acontecimientos, el Tapiz de Bayeux se presenta ante nosotros como una obra excepcional para comprender cómo se compone un programa iconográfico con tema épico y a gran escala. 
Este artículo propone, en primer lugar, plantear las preguntas recurrentes sobre los orígenes, la función y el destino de esta obra maestra del arte románico, para pasar después a analizar cómo funciona la narración en imágenes de una “crónica visual” como ésta. Finalmente desarrolla, a partir de la iconografía del Tapiz, unas reflexiones sobre el tema general de la representación de la guerra, especialmente entre cristianos, durante la Edad Media.

Harold Godwinson's journey to France, depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, is nowadays mostly regarded as rather reckless attempt to free two hostages in Normandy. It is a curious incident, interrupting Harold's ascent to power in his homeland. William of Malmesbury's description of it as a fishing party has always been dismissed as a silly explanation. This article connects Malmesbury's phrase 'commentum' ('pretext') with other sources on the expedition. This comparison shows that Harold's boat trip and his intended diplomacy in France were not an interlude in his policy, but formed a continuation of his cautious, calculated manoeuvres towards possession of the English throne.

The lead chapter in, 'Making Sense of the Bayeux Tapestry Readings and Reworkings', ed. by Anna Henderson and Gale R. Owen-Crocker (Manchester University Press, 2016).

Abstract:
The front the Bayeux Tapestry is famous for the story it tells; the end of the Anglo-Saxon era and beginning of the Norman through invasion. From the front it is possible to detect the embroidery stitches used in creating it. However, it is the back of the Tapestry that reveals how it was actually made. The back is not normally available to view but during the early 1980s photographs were taken whilst the Tapestry was being conserved and re-hung in its present location. Only five people including the author have been given permission to study the photographs in detail, and it is these that inform this paper.

By studying the photographs the Tapestry’s creation has been revealed; the construction and embroidering of the seams, how the embroidery stitches were worked, and the order in which they were worked. By combining information gathered from the photographs and the front of the Tapestry a hypothesis for the logistics of creating such a large embroidered hanging can be suggested. From this, suggested working practices of designer, draughtsman and embroidery-workers can be drawn. Questions previously asked for example, what order the main panel and the borders were worked, and whether the inscriptions were worked in conjunction with the main panel can also be answered. This is the focus of the paper which, for the first time draws together all the available information from the eight seams in the linen ground fabric and the surrounding embroidered areas to discuss how the Bayeux Tapestry was created.

En juin 1944, les troupes alliées débarquent sur les plages de la Normandie. Au même moment, de l’autre côté de l’Atlantique, une reproduction de la Tapisserie de Bayeux est exposée au musée de l’Art Association of Montreal (AAM). Quels liens tisser entre la mise en scène muséale de cette icône de l’art médiéval et la Seconde Guerre mondiale ? Symbole de la victoire militaire, la Tapisserie de Bayeux revêt une dimension politique et idéologique importante qui a pu être exploitée par le musée montréalais dans ce contexte de conflit mondial.

Combining certain aspects of iconography with physical features of the Bayeux Tapestry, this paper explores the possibility of a square configuration for the original installation of the Tapestry, and explores possible locales that may have permitted such an installation. For a variety of reasons, including the configuration of the current castle, Dover is forwarded as a promising candidate.

En este ensayo se estudia el significado de las fábulas representadas en la franja inferior del tapiz de Bayeux. Para algunos críticos, estas fábulas –de tradición esópica- ofrecen claves sobre el significado general de la obra, en particular sobre el comportamiento de los caudillos que se enfrentan. Para otros, las fábulas no pasan de ser simples adornos. En el trasfondo del debate late la pregunta sobre la relación entre las franjas superior e inferior y la historia narrada en la franja central del Tapiz.

PRÉ-PROGRAMME DU COLLOQUE INTERNATIONAL L'INVENTION DE LA TAPISSERIE DE BAYEUX NAISSANCE, COMPOSITION ET STYLE D'UN CHEF D'OEUVRE MÉDIÉVAL 22 – 25 SEPTEMBRE 2016 JEUDI 22 SEPTEMBRE

http://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/colloque_international_tapisserie_de_bayeux.html

A model for the development of Hastings immediately prior to the Norman Conquest in 1066 is put forward, which explores the new thesis that a burh or citadel was created on the castle site at Hastings by King AEthelred in c.990 as one element in a possibly systematic defence of southern England against the new Viking invaders. This was associated with the establishment of a mint, and led directly to the development of the town of Hastings from this time, together with a probable port and associated shipbuilding industry. This defended site, provided with defences, a tower-nave church and a monumental gateway, survived to be used by Duke William for two weeks in the autumn of 1066 as his military command centre, in preparation for the battle which made possible his subsequent conquest of England.

RESUMEN El análisis arqueológico del contexto cognitivo descifra el entorno cultural coetáneo del objeto. El jinete con lanza en ristre y caballo «al galope trocado sobre la derecha», en las monedas ibéricas y celtibéricas (siglos II-I a.C.) se admite, iconográficamente, en el ámbito militar. Estas representa-ciones conmemoran el servicio prestado y las hazañas militares llevadas a cabo en el ejército romano por las tropas auxiliares de íberos y celtíberos. La imagen ecuestre está tomada de la iconografía militar romana representada en los paneles pintados que mostraban el triunfo militar al pueblo. Esta intención es válida para el arte ibérico y celtibérico. La representación del jinete y su estética espe-cífica hay que percibirlas como un arte provincial romano. ABSTRACT Archaeological analysis of the cognitive context allows us to interpret the contemporary cultural environment of the object. The rider with spear at the ready and his horse «at a gallop facing right», found on Iberian and Celtiberian coins (2 nd to 1 st Centuries BC), is admitted, as an icon, into the military context. Both Iberian and Celtiberian horsemen did service as auxiliary troops in the Roman army; these representations commemorate those facts and their triumphs. This equestrian image is taken from a Roman military design featured on painted panels which served to show the military victories to the people. This intention is valid for Iberian and Celtiberian art. The way the rider is represented and his specific aesthetics should be viewed as a provincial Roman art. (*) Museo de Zaragoza, japaz@aragon.es.

In this book, Lisa Reilly establishes a new interpretive paradigm for the eleventh and twelfth-century art and architecture of the Norman world in France, England, and Sicily. Traditionally, scholars have considered iconic works like the Cappella Palatina and the Bayeux Embroidery in a geographically piecemeal fashion that prevents us from seeing their full significance. Here, Reilly examines these works individually and within the larger context of a connected Norman world. Just as Rollo founded the Normandy 'of different nationalities', the Normans created a visual culture that relied on an assemblage of forms. To the modern eye, these works are perceived as culturally diverse. As Reilly demonstrates, the multiple sources for Norman visual culture served to expand their meaning. Norman artworks represented the cultural mix of each locale, and the triumph of Norman rule, not just as a military victory but as a legitimate succession, and often as the return of true Christian rule.

Il presente volume, partendo dal racconto delle origini storiche dei Normanni e degli Anglosassoni, ripercorre le varie tappe che portarono alla battaglia di Hastings del 14 ottobre 1066 e alla storica vittoria di Guglielmo, potente Duca di Normandia che passò dal ruolo di “bastardo” a quello di “Conquistatore”. Il racconto di quegli eventi si accompagna a una dettagliata analisi tecnica  (e storicoartistica) del celebre Arazzo di Bayeux, soffermandosi in ultimo sugli importanti elementi di novità portati da Guglielmo una volta asceso al trono d’Inghilterra.

Each year over seven billion people across the world are drawn to see the latest feature films at the cinema. This episode reveals how the most powerful storytelling medium ever created exploits visual techniques invented by artists in the ancient world.

The investigation starts with the oldest recorded story, that of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. The story tells the tales (and adventures) of Gilgamesh and Enkidu.  One scene from the story, in particular, captured the imagination of Bronze Age people, and that was the slaying of a pride of lions. The story inspired the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal, in around 645BC, to cast himself in the leading role of Gilgamesh in a series of carved friezes for his throne room. The success of these lead Ashurbanipal to depict the battle against the Elamites and in particular visualised the prisoners grinding their ancestors bones to make their bread. Although mankind had discovered the power of the protagonist, in particular that of a hero, Ashurbanipal’s stories lacked emotion and so are hard to engage with.

Jumping forward several hundred years to the Ancient Greeks, we find the next missing element crucial to storing telling. In the grotto of the Villa de Tiberius in Spurlonga, Italy, a collection of sculptures were found that depict Odysseus‘s encounter with the cyclops. The statues show Odysseus getting the cyclops drunk and then tricking him, and driving a stake though his eye. By depicting the emotions in the scene we, as the viewer, get a greater connection with the story. If we care about the characters, we care about what happens next.

The Romans refined this process more when Emperor Trajan, celebrated his conquest of the Dacians, and created Trajan’s column in the heart of Rome. The 35m high marble column has the story of the event, spiraling around the column, from the base, right to the very top. Admired by Napoleon and Mussolini, it depicts an Epic with Trajan as the protagonist hero and the Dacian king Decebalus as the antagonist. The sculptors used many visual techniques still used today such as cut scenes, and birds eye and low views to add drama. The whole story can be summarised by looking up the western axis of the column. Although this captivated viewers there was still something missing.

The final piece in the jigsaw can be found in Australia which has some of oldest known painted images, some known to be over 40k years old. The aborigines still draw gods and spirits the same way their early ancestors did, for example images of barramundi fish. This consistency has lead to these images becoming symbols, triggering the viewer to recall well known stories passed down generation to generation. The real magic happened when the Aborigines came together to celebrate these stories, they recounted them adding drum beats, rhythm and chanting. Now two senses were being stimulated, the eyes and the ears.

When the pioneers of the nineteenth century created the first moving images, they were silent, but as soon as cinematographers added sound, cinema as we know it today took off.

Il dettaglio in questione, dell’arazzo di Bayeux, fa riferimento alla scena n°8 se si segue il Bayeux Tapestry tituli. Si tratta del falco, nero o comunque più bruno rispetto agli altri esemplari presenti nell'arazzo, di Guido (Guy) I di Ponthieu, protettore di Saint-Riquier, conte di Montreuil e conte di Ponthieu dal 1053. Era figlio di Ugo II di Ponthieu, e di Berta, signora d'Aumale.
È comunque necessario fare una premessa od una serie di chiarimenti in merito alle figure intese, nell'arazzo, come Guido I di Ponthieu e il suo falco. Nella scena precedente, ossia la scena n°7, si vede Guido I di Ponthieu, su cavallo color ocra e...

This volume was born from a desire to leave a tangible trace of the scholarly encounters that have taken place in the past two years at the Center for Early Medieval Studies of the Department of Art History at Masaryk University in Brno. Speaking in various forums Xavier Barral i Altet, Nicolas Bock, Valentina Cantone, Herbert Kessler, Serena Romano and Elisabetta Scirocco have sparked exciting discussions of what continues to be known as a Middle Age.
The common denominator that unites all of the scholarly work presented was the dialogue between the medieval “present” and the antique world: from Venice to Campania to Milan, from Constantinople to Burgundy, there emerged an intellectual and visual experience that suggests the medieval period was a uniquely fertile moment for engagement with the heritage of antiquity, filtered and mediated in different ways, but ever present.
The purpose of this volume is to understand why and how patterns, images and ideas from the mythical (but visible) ancient past were received throughout the medieval millennium. We seek, that is, to understand why, hic et nunc, clients and workshops deliberately chose to speak in a “classicizing” aesthetic language, or to appropriate concepts belonging to the antique tradition wholesale.

Our idea of a castle, by definition a fortified private residence in medieval Europe, is a massive stone building on a hill or surrounded by a moat, with thick stone walls, a keep or palace, lofty towers, fortified gate with portcullis and a drawbridge. The first castles were, in fact, much smaller, simpler and built of wood. The origins of the castles can be traced back to three types of fortifications – so called motte in France, bergfried in Germany, and Slavic fortified settlements of various size. The earliest motte castles, which consisted of wooden tower (donjon) and timber palisade built on natural or artificial mound, and surrounded by one or more ditches, were neither perfect nor impregnable, but in flat landscape offered sufficient protection against sudden local attack. One of these castles was precisely described by Jean de Colmieu writing around 1130. Several timber castles are depicted in the well-known Bayeux tapestry. The tapestry also offers a unique insight into castle-building. Workers are erecting mound at Hastings, layer by layer, on top of which already stands partially completed timber palisade or tower. The construction of this castle is also described by Norman poet Robert Wace in his verse chronicle Roman de Rou. Carpenters, who disembarked after archers and knights, brought all the material with them. Wooden stakes were already shaped and pierced, and the pins were cut and prepared in large barrels. Before the evening, the fort was finished. Medieval castle had residential, economic and administrative functions. Military function was mostly secondary. Castle was also a centre of power and business, a symbol of owner’s wealth and influence. It became a subject of admiration and even lower aristocracy wanted their castles to be as much beautiful as possible, in order to impress their noble guests. This is clearly demonstrated by contemporary chronicler Lambert of Ardres, the author of History of the Counts of Guînes, who vividly described one of these timber donjons. The three-storey structure contained chambers, halls, kitchen, storerooms and even a private chapel. Although stone began to replace wood as a building material by the 11th century, timber castles were still common in the 12th century. William the Conqueror turned the castle, originally a defensive weapon, into offensive and psychological weapon, and intentionally placed them strategically in countryside and towns as well. Similar tactics were later used by crusaders in the Middle East. On the other hand, the crusaders, who were usually outnumbered and under pressure, brought home many innovations, which further enhanced design and military fortification of the castles.

The Tomb of Edward II is an imposing monument with a striking tiered,
gabled superstructure and an alabaster effigy of the king. The elaborate nature
of this memorial is unexpected when one contemplates the difficult course of
Edward’s reign and, especially, its termination in his deposition and death.
Equally surprising is the use of alabaster for his figure, as this material had
never previously been used for an effigy and was not at the time a particularly
valued stone. This essay considers what might have been the response to this
tomb and to the alabaster figure of the king within the context of his grim
end. Alabaster had a longstanding lapidary tradition that associated it with
preserving the dead, and was mentioned in the Bible in relation to the life
of Christ. These associations, when coupled with alabaster’s whiteness and
luminosity, may have worked to sanctify the former ruler, thus camouflaging
the turbulence at the end of his life and legitimating the succession of his son
Edward III to the throne.

In Ancient Biblical literature we do not find any direct references to falconry. However, European medieval interpreters depicted several Biblical characters as practicing falconry. Most of these falconry intrusions are Jewish, but Christian Biblical art also tangentially imposed falconry into the Biblical narrative.

In this book, Lisa Reilly establishes a new interpretive paradigm for the eleventh and twelfth-century art and architecture of the Norman world in France, England, and Sicily. Traditionally, scholars have considered iconic works like the Cappella Palatina and the Bayeux Embroidery in a geographically piecemeal fashion that prevents us from seeing their full significance. Here, Reilly examines these works individually and within the larger context of a connected Norman world. Just as Rollo founded the Normandy 'of different nationalities', the Normans created a visual culture that relied on an assemblage of forms. To the modern eye, these works are perceived as culturally diverse. As Reilly demonstrates, the multiple sources for Norman visual culture served to expand their meaning. Norman artworks represented the cultural mix of each locale, and the triumph of Norman rule, not just as a military victory but as a legitimate succession, and often as the return of true Christian rule.