Middelalderens billedtæpper

The tapestry of the Middle Ages
The function and the motif of the tapestries are closely connected."The tapestry was a kind of idealistic, mobile, functional piece of art and furniture" quotation : Väda tapeter. Jack Lindblom). There were both secular and religious motifs. The religious ones are the best preserved ones while the secular ones are worn out. The religious tapestries have often been stored in churches and monastries, where they were taken care of. The secular tapestries were used for many purposes and were taken from place to place hung up and taken down, and at the same time the respect for them was not large. They were simply worn out. The tapestries were to decorate, insulate, signal power and wealth and they should give religious and moral instruction through their motifs. They	were also used for decorating squares and streets at feasts and religious processions. There were hooks on the front of the houses, on to which the tapestries were hooked. When Prince Philip the Good in 1430 married Princess Isabella of Portugal ,whole streets of Brügge were covered with textiles. In Scandinavia we know from legends and history how people at parties "drew" or covered the walls with textiles - embroidered or woven textiles. "Dragefruen" was the one who had to make sure that the walls were decorated, and it was her responsibility to decorate the banqueting hall at parties for either happiness or sorrow. The tapestries were taken down when the party was over, or when the master and mistress moved on to another dwelling.
	An embroidered Madonna on silk tapestry Real Fábricade tapices, Madrid.
The tapestries were either woven or embroidered. The woven tapestries were often in series of 10-40 individual tapestries with motifs, composing the story.The embroidered ones were often long friezes. Not so tall, but very long, so they could fit the bare part of the wall between the wainscot and the ceiling or along the balconies in churches and other big assembly halls. While the woven tapestries mostly were	made in workshops, the embroidered ones were mostly made in convents or by noblewomen and unmarried ladies of noble rank, who were trained in the art of embroidery and passed their time of day doing something elevating. The embroidered tapestries were sewn with both gold- and siverthreads, pearl embroidery, gems and glass.Linen made of flax was the most common type, but silk could also be found.
A section of the Bayeux tapestry King Harold.	Kong Harold
Of well-known tapestries from the Middle Ages the Bayeux tapestry from the Early French Middle Ages may be mentioned. This tapestry is embroidered and has like many other tapestries from the same period scenes with horses, men, houses, ships, horsemen and trees
	Horseman with helmet and shield from the Bayeux tapestry. Copy of a horseman’s helmet, Bayeux.
. . The motifs of the many tapestries were easily recognisable and understandable. A horse was a horse and King Harold was recognisable because of his attributes the crown, the throne and the sceptre. The Normans and the English could be recognized by their hair styles. If you know the basis of understanding of that age, it is easier for one to read the many hidden symbols in the tapestries. These hidden agendas and messages have also made the study of tapestries so interesting and exciting for the posterity, while	that age could learn from and dream about the storiesof the tapestries.Many of the tapestries , both the woven ones and the embroidered ones, have consecutive stories and have since been characterized as the first strips. On the Bayeux tapestry it is quite evident that it is William the Conquerer’s conquest of England at the battle of Hastings that is being depicted, but in the story there are many hidden and subtle messages, signals, glorifications and examples of wealth and power, political and religious motifs.
The Baldishol tapestry.
The strip method is known from murals and is also seen on a Norwegian tapestry : "Herodes’ Banquet", which can be seen at the Museum for Decorative Art in Oslo. On this tapestry Salome is seen several times and in different situations as the story proceeds. This tapestry has the same diagonal lines as the border on the Bayeux tapestry. At the Museum for Decorative Art in Oslo the Baldishol tapestry is also found. Here only 2 pictures of months are preserved. Each month has a figure and a motif and is seperated	by columns. Here we also find the horse and horseman, as if they jumped from the Bayeux tapestry and right into the Baldishol tapestry. Try comparing the access picture of the homepage of the Museum of Decorative Art in Oslo with the picture of this horseman and the helmet. The only things missing must be the spots on the horse ! This tapestry is thought to be woven in the 13th century. It is a fragment of a larger frieze. It is woven in the gobelin technique 120cm high- equivalent to the width of the loom- of Spelsau wool with a thick warp and a thinner weft. This gives the tapestry a special structure. On the preserved piece you can see two figures under their own bow, seperated by columns and with edgings along the bottom and top edge. The figure on "April" has the very characteristic elongated expression, where hands and face are of great importance. This style can also be seen on the Queen’s Gobelins, where Bjørn Nørgaard has used the same style on the tapestries from the Viking Age and the Middle Ages. Compare facial expressions, the form of hands, bodies and clothing.

Figure from the gobelin : The Viking Age.
Figure from the gobelin : The Middle Ages.
On the Baldishol tapestry there are also inscriptions as on the Bayeux-, the Halberstadt- and many other tapestries.It is assumed that the weavers have been skilled at a workshop or a convent weaving workshop. At these workshops there was the necessary co-operation between the master, who made the full size drawings - the cartoons - and the artisans at the looms. Only the large workshops could supply this co-operation in connection with the very big tasks. At smaller workshops the individual weaver had his own patterns, which could be combined with copies and other artistic patterns.Patterns from the miniature pantings, the murals or the stained-glass paintings, the wood-carving and the decorative metalart of the Middle Ages were brought forward at this time	St.Georg og dragen. Dronningens Gobeliner
The Bayeux tapestry
This embroidered tapestry - 70 metres long and 50cm high - depicts in 70 consecutive scenes the Norman Duke, William the Conquerer’s campaign of England. His victory over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The story is depicted in a very vivid expression and with a free figure drawing, which was unknown from the tapestries at that time. You can read and see more about this embroidered tapestry, its supposed origin, materials and sewing technique, composition and imagery as well as the historical sequence and examples, articles and Internet addresses. Or you can see the whole tapestry.