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Early European Tapestries

Tapestries, handwoven textiles made with different colored threads to produce designs or images, were highly popular in western and northern Europe between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. The nobility at the time usually lived in big, austere, drafty castles, and tapestries provided comfort and warmth. They could be hung on cold walls or used to cover doors and windows. Noble families often did not have a permanent home, instead moving periodically among several locations. Tapestries, which were expensive, were usually packed and moved each time, bringing with them a sense of luxury and familiarity.

Some of the most famous tapestries were woven from wool in Flanders (modern Belgium), a region well-placed for tapestry production. Many of the plants that supplied dyes grew there. The leaves of the woad plant were used to make blue, and madder root provided red. Yellow came from different materials, including onion skins and lemon peels, though most of these yellows faded quickly, thus also affecting the quality of green, which is a mixture of blue and yellow. High-quality wool was not produced in Flanders but was readily imported from nearby England.

Because of a long history of textile production, Flanders already boasted many skilled weavers and dyers when tapestry production began to increase, and this advantage grew in the late fifteenth century because of unrest in Flanders’ southern neighbor, France. Originally, Paris had been a center of tapestry production, but the turmoil produced by the Hundred Years’ War between England and France (1337- 1453) caused many textile workers to relocate to Flanders or to the city of Arras, which was then a part of the Duchy of Burgundy. Following the death of the duke of Burgundy in 1477, the French king Louis XI conquered the territories around Arras. Its inhabitants, still loyal to Burgundy, then expelled all the French who had lived in the city. In retaliation, Louis attacked the town and, in turn, expelled the inhabitants loyal to Burgundy, including the textile workers, many of whom fled to Flanders. Paris regained some of its strength in tapestry production in the seventeenth century, when Louis XIV established the famed Gobelins workshops there.

Tapestries were initially used mostly for warmth, but their visual aspect later gained in importance. Tapestries often told a story. Many early tapestries were hung in churches and cathedrals; these often featured biblical scenes and were used for teaching or religious devotion. However, the use of tapestries in churches later declined with the rise of Gothic architecture. Because this new style emphasized light, churches had many more windows than before, reducing the space for tapestries. In homes, tapestries were still prized; they tended to show complex, varied scenes in vivid colors and provided visual unity to rooms. Historical or mythical scenes were popular, including depictions of heroes and heroines from Greek mythology and figures from European legend. Among the most famous tapestries is a set of six called The Lady and the Unicorn， now in the Cluny Museum in Paris. These tapestries, done in the intricate millefleurs design (with a background of many small flowers), all show an elegant lady accompanied by a unicorn and a lion. Five of them likely represented the senses, but the meaning of the sixth, bearing an inscription sometimes translated as“my sole desire,” is debatable.

Tapestries were often used as symbols of power and success. A nobleman would sometimes commission a tapestry showing historical or mythical scenes that lent his family legitimacy or commemorating a battle his family had won. Because these tapestry pieces declared status, they were often finer than other kinds of tapestries, sometimes being made with gold or silver thread. One magnificent group of tapestries, called the Apocalypse of Angers , was commissioned by the duke of Anjou (France) in 1375. In Christian narratives, the Apocalypse is the final battle between good and evil, which is symbolized in the tapestry by various images, like battles between angels and beasts. Some of the angels are holding flags showing the Cross of Anjou, a symbol of the duke’s territory. The tapestries were t probably designed to represent the duke’s wealth as well as to reinforce his authority as a ruler.

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►Tapestries, handwoven textiles made with different colored threads to produce designs or images, were highly popular in western and northern Europe between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. The nobility at the time usually lived in big, austere, drafty castles, and tapestries provided comfort and warmth. They could be hung on cold walls or used to cover doors and windows. Noble families often did not have a permanent home, instead moving periodically among several locations. Tapestries, which were expensive, were usually packed and moved each time, bringing with them a sense of luxury and familiarity.