Tapestry

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Tapestry

Tapestry is a form of textile art

Textile art

Textile art may refer to:*Any one of the textile arts, those arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects...
. It is woven

Weaving

Weaving is the textile arts in which two distinct sets of yarn, called the Warp and the filling or weft , are interlaced with each other to form a textile....
by hand on a vertical loom

Loom

A loom is a machine or device for weaving thread or yarn into textiles. Looms can range from very small hand-held frames, to large free-standing hand looms, to huge automatic mechanical devices....
. It is weft

Weft

In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn under and over parallel Warp yarns to create a textile. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn", and in India, it is referred to as "baana"....
-faced weaving, in which all the warp

Warp (weaving)

In weaving, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns through which the weft is woven. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end....
threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike cloth weaving where both the warp and the weft threads may be visible. In this way, a colourful pattern or image is created. Most weavers use a naturally based warp thread such as linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
or cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
. The weft threads are usually wool

Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
or cotton, but may include silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from Pupa#Cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity ....
, gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
, silver

Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
, or other alternatives.

Both craftsmen and artists have produced tapestries.

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Tapestry is a form of textile art

Textile art

Textile art may refer to:*Any one of the textile arts, those arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects...
. It is woven

Weaving

Weaving is the textile arts in which two distinct sets of yarn, called the Warp and the filling or weft , are interlaced with each other to form a textile....
by hand on a vertical loom

Loom

Weft

Warp (weaving)

Linen

Cotton

Wool

Silk

Gold

Silver

Cartoon

The word cartoon has various meanings, based on several very different forms of visual art and illustration. The term has evolved over time.The original meaning was in fine art, and there cartoon meant a preparatory drawing for a piece of art such as a painting or tapestry....
s') were made by artists of repute, while the tapestries themselves were produced by craftsmen.

Function

The success of decorative tapestry can be partially explained by its portability. Kings and noblemen

Nobility

Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary or for a lifetime. Titles of nobility exist today in many countries although it is usually associated with present or former monarchies....
could roll up and transport tapestries from one residence to another. In churches, they could be displayed on special occasions. Tapestries were also draped on the walls of castle

Castle

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territor...
s for insulation during winter, as well as for decorative display.

In the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
and renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
, a rich tapestry panel woven with symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something such as an entity, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention....
ic emblem

Emblem

An emblem is a pictorial , abstract art or representational, that epitomizes a concept ? e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory ? or that represents a person, such as a Monarch or Saint symbology....
s, motto

Motto

A motto is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used....
es, or coats of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways....
called a baldachin

Baldachin

A baldachin, or baldaquin , is a canopy of state over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent Architecture feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure may be called a ciborium when it is sufficiently architectural in...
, canopy of state or cloth of state was hung behind and over a throne as a symbol of authority. The seat under such a canopy of state would normally be raised on a dais

Dais

Dais is any raised platform located either within or without a room or enclosure, often for dignified occupancy, as at the front of a lecture hall or sanctuary....
.

The iconography

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Ancient Greek e???? and ??afe?? ....
of most Western tapestries goes back to written sources, the Bible

Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
and Ovid

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
's Metamorphoses
Metamorphoses (poem)

The Metamorphoses by the Ancient Rome poet Ovid is a Narrative poetry in fifteen books that describes the Creation myth and history of the world....
being two popular choices. Apart from the religious

Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
and mythological

Mythology

The word mythology refers to a body of folklore/myths/legends that a particular culture believes to be true and that often use the supernatural to interpret natural events and to explain the nature of the universe and humanity....
images, hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to law....
scenes are the subject of many tapestries produced for indoor decoration.

Historical development

Tapestries have been used since at least Hellenistic times. Samples of Greek tapestry have been found preserved in the desert of Tarim Basin

Tarim Basin

The Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of more than 400,000 km2. It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in PRC's far west....
dating from the 3rd century BC.

Tapestry reached a new stage in Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
in the early fourteenth century AD. The first wave of production originated in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
. Over time, the craft expanded to France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
and the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Arras

Arras

Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard language dialect....
, France

France

Wool

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop....
s and castle

Castle

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. Few of these tapestries survived the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudalism for the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Age of Enlightenment principles of cit...
as hundreds were burnt to recover the gold thread that was often woven into them. Arras is still used to refer to a rich tapestry no matter where it was woven.

By the 16th century, Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Over the course of history, the geographical territory that was called "Flanders" has varied....
had become the centre of European tapestry production. In the 17th century Flemish

Flemish people

The terms the Flemish people , and the Flemings or the Flemish denote the more than six million people of Flanders, the northern half of the country Belgium — and, as well, the majority of all Belgium; the terms Fleming and Flemings denote respectively a person and the people of that community....
tapestries were arguably the most important productions, with many specimens of this era still extant, demonstrating the intricate detail of pattern and colour.

In the 19th century, William Morris

William Morris

William Morris was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artist, writer, and Socialism associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement....
resurrected the art of tapestry-making in the medieval style at Merton Abbey

Merton Abbey

Merton Abbey may refer to:*Merton Priory, a former Augustinian priory in what is now southwest London, England*Merton Abbey, London, the residential area in southwest London on the site of the former priory...
. Morris and Company

Morris and Company

Morris and Company may refer to:*Morris & Company, a Chicago meatpacking company*Morris & Co., a decorative arts firm founded by William Morris...
made successful series of tapestries for home and ecclesiatical uses, with figures based on cartoons by Edward Burne-Jones

Edward Burne-Jones

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was an England artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris & Co.....
.

Tapestries are still made at the factory of Gobelins

Gobelins manufactory

The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France, at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins Paris M?tro station in the XIIIe arrondissement....
and a few other old European workshops, which also repair and restore old tapestries. The craft is also currently practiced by hobbyist weavers

Weaving

Weaving is the textile arts in which two distinct sets of yarn, called the Warp and the filling or weft , are interlaced with each other to form a textile....
.

The term Tapestry is also used to describe fabric made on jacquard loom

Jacquard loom

The Jacquard Loom is a mechanical loom, invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns such as brocade, damask, and matelasse....
s. Tapestry upholstery

Upholstery

Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially chairs, with padding, Spring s, webbing, and textile or leather covers. The word upholstery comes from the Middle English words up and holden, meaning to hold up....
fabrics and reproductions of the famous tapestries of the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

Kilim

File:Hotamis Kilim .jpg'Kilims' are flat tapestry-woven carpets or rugs produced from the Balkans to Pakistan. Kilims can be purely decorative or can function as prayer mats....
s and Navajo Rug

Navajo rug

File:Transition 1880.jpgNavajo rugs and blankets are textiles produced by Navajo people of the Four Corners area of the United States. Navajo textiles are highly regarded and have been sought after as trade items for over 150 years....
s are also types of tapestry work.

Famous tapestries

The Sampul tapestry
Sampul tapestry

The Sampul tapestry is a woolen wall-hanging that was found in Sampul, in the Tarim Basin inside a 3rd-2nd century BCE mass grave.The tapestry represents a soldier, probably Greek, and a Centaur....
, woollen wall hanging, 3rd
3rd century BC

The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period....
-2nd century BC, Sampul, Urumqi Xinjiang
Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of China of the People's Republic of China. It is a large, sparsely populated area, spanning over 1.6 million sq....
Museum
Museum

A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study, and entertainment", as defined by the International Coun...
.
The Hestia Tapestry
The Hestia Tapestry

The Hestia Tapestry is a Byzantine tapestry woven from wool and linen in 6th century AD in Egypt. It is a late representation of Hestia the Greek gods goddess of the hearth....
, 6th century, Egypt, Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks

Dumbarton Oaks is a 19th century Federal architecture mansion with famous gardens in the Georgetown, Washington, D.C. List of neighborhoods of the District of Columbia by ward of Washington, D.C....
Collection.
The Bayeux Tapestry
Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry is a 50 cm by 70 m long embroidery cloth?not an actual tapestry?which explains the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England as well as the events of the invasion itself....
, which depicts the events surrounding the Battle of Hastings
Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings was the decisive Normans victory in the Norman Conquest of England. It was fought between the Norman army of William I of England, and the English people army led by Harold Godwinson....
; note that this is not (strictly speaking) a tapestry, but is instead embroidery
Embroidery

File:Kazakh rug chain stitch embroidery.jpgEmbroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating Textile or other materials with sewing needle and yarn....
. In June 2007, the tapestry was listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register
Memory of the World Programme

UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme is an international initiative launched in 1992 in order to guard against collective amnesia calling upon the preservation of the valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world ensuring their wide dissemination....
.
The Apocalypse Tapestry is the longest tapestry in the world, and depicts scenes from the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation, also called Revelation to John, Apocalypse of John , and Revelation of Jesus Christ is the last Biblical canon of the New Testament in the Christian Bible....
. It was woven between 1373 and 1382. Originally 140m (459ft), the surviving 100m are displayed in the Château d'Angers
Château d'Angers

The Ch?teau d'Angers is a castle in the city of Angers, in the d?partement in France of Maine-et-Loire, in France.The fortress of Angers, on a rocky ridge overhanging the river Maine River, was one of the sites inhabited by the Roman Empire because of its strategic defensive location....
, in Angers, France.
The six-part piece La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady and the Unicorn
The Lady and the Unicorn

The Lady and the Unicorn is the modern title given to a series of six tapestry woven in Flanders of wool and silk, from designs drawn in Paris in the late fifteenth century, The suite is often considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle Ages in Europe....
), stored in l'Hôtel de Cluny, Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
.
The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries
Devonshire Hunting Tapestries

The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries are a group of four magnificent Flanders tapestry dating from the mid-fifteenth century. These enormous works, each over 3 metres wide, depict men and women in 1400-1500 in fashion hunting in a forest....
, four Flemish tapestries dating from the mid-fifteenth century depict men and women in fashionable dress of the early fifteenth century hunting in a forest. The tapestries formerly belonged to the Duke of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire

Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the aristocracy House of Cavendish family. This branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the richest and most influential aristocratic families in England since the 16th century, and have been rivalled in political influence perhaps only by the Earl of Derby and...
and are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million Object ....
.
The Hunt of the Unicorn
The Hunt of the Unicorn

The Hunt of the Unicorn is a series of seven tapestry dating from 1495–1505. The tapestries, often referred to as the Unicorn Tapestries, show a group of nobility and hunters in pursuit of a unicorn....
is a seven piece tapestry from 1495 to 1505, currently displayed at the The Cloisters
The Cloisters

The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the European Middle Ages. The Cloisters is located in New York City, USA, specifically Fort Tryon Park near the northern tip of Manhattan island on a hill overlooking the Hudson River....
, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile, New York City in New York City, USA....
in New York.
The tapestries for the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Its fame rests on its architecture, evocative of Solomon's Temple of the Old Testament and on its decoration which has been frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and...
, designed by Raphael
Raphael

Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone was an Italy Painting and architect of the High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings....
in 1515-16, for which the Raphael Cartoons
Raphael Cartoons

The Raphael Cartoons are seven large cartoons for tapestry, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, painted by the High Renaissance painter Raffaello Santi in 1515-16 and showing scenes from the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles....
, or painted designs, also survive.
The Valois Tapestries
Valois Tapestries

The Valois Tapestries are a series of eight tapestry depicting festivities or "magnificences" at the Court of France in the second half of the 16th century....
are a cycle of 8 hangings depicting royal festivities in France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
in the 1560s and 1570s
The New World Tapestry
New World Tapestry

The New World Tapestry is the largest stitched embroidery in the world, larger than the Bayeux Tapestry. It depicts English colonisation attempts in Newfoundland , North America, the Guyanas and Bermuda between the years 1583 and 1642, when the English Civil War began....
is a 267 feet long tapestry which depicts the colonisation of the Americas between 1583 and 1648, currently displayed at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
British Empire and Commonwealth Museum

The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum is a museum in Bristol, United Kingdom that explores the history of the British Empire and the effect of British colonial rule on the rest of the world....
in Bristol
Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
; note that this is not (strictly speaking) a tapestry, but is instead embroidery
Embroidery

File:Kazakh rug chain stitch embroidery.jpgEmbroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating Textile or other materials with sewing needle and yarn....
.
The biggest collection of Flanders tapestry is in the Spanish royal collection, there is 8000 meters of historical tapestry from Flanders, as well as Spanish tapestries designed by Goya and others. There is a special museum in the palace of La Granja
La Granja

La Granja may refer to:*La Granja - a royal palace in Spain*La Granja de San Ildefonso*La Granja, Chile*La Granja *La Granja ...
, and others are displayed in various historic buildings.
The Pastoral Amusements
The Pastoral Amusements

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, also known as Les Amusements Champêtres, a series of 8 Beauvais Tapestries designed by Jean Baptiste Oudry between 1720 and 1730.

Gallery

"True" tapestry

Other forms of needlework called "tapestry"

External links

, "A World History of Art"
, by Grace Christie, 1912, from Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works, as founder Michael Hart said "To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."....
. Technical handbook.