Tapestry of Bayeux Screenprints on Display
Title
Tapestry of Bayeux Screenprints on Display
Subject
Screen prints
Bayeux tapestry
Description
The Bayeux Tapestry is a famed medieval tapestry depicting the Norman conquest of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings in 1066 C.E. The original tapestry, now housed in Normandy, is a length of cloth nearly 230 feet long and 20 inches high, embroidered in detail as was common for tapestries in churches and wealthy homes of the time.
The tapestry is often cited as the best known work of Anglo-Saxon art, and for centuries was housed in the Bayeux Cathedral, from which it gets its name. Though called a tapestry, this piece of fabric art is technically an embroidery, in which colored threads are used to stitch the design into a cloth. In contrast, true tapestries weave designs directly into the cloth as it is made.
The screenprint reproduction featured here is common of teaching tools in the 18th and 19th century. Produced by Charles Stothard, this facsimile cleanly and clearly represents the images on the original tapestry. Stothard himself was a well-known archeological draftsman at the time and used his reputation to reproduce and sell exact versions of the tapestry to collectors, scholars, and schools. Before the widespread use of photography, illustrative and print facsimiles like this one provided students with necessary insight into historical artworks, even when they were not able to view the actual thing.
Decker Library has a number of teaching reproductions like this, which helped past MICA students gain knowledge of historical artworks before photography or the internet brought it to their fingertips. We now invite you to take a look at some selected panels from this work.
The tapestry is often cited as the best known work of Anglo-Saxon art, and for centuries was housed in the Bayeux Cathedral, from which it gets its name. Though called a tapestry, this piece of fabric art is technically an embroidery, in which colored threads are used to stitch the design into a cloth. In contrast, true tapestries weave designs directly into the cloth as it is made.
The screenprint reproduction featured here is common of teaching tools in the 18th and 19th century. Produced by Charles Stothard, this facsimile cleanly and clearly represents the images on the original tapestry. Stothard himself was a well-known archeological draftsman at the time and used his reputation to reproduce and sell exact versions of the tapestry to collectors, scholars, and schools. Before the widespread use of photography, illustrative and print facsimiles like this one provided students with necessary insight into historical artworks, even when they were not able to view the actual thing.
Decker Library has a number of teaching reproductions like this, which helped past MICA students gain knowledge of historical artworks before photography or the internet brought it to their fingertips. We now invite you to take a look at some selected panels from this work.
Creator
Allison Fischbach, Decker Library
Date
2017-10-14
Rights
For installation views: Photograph by Decker Library. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For digital surrogates utilize the rights statement provided by DIU.
Language
English
Files
Collection
Citation
Allison Fischbach, Decker Library, “Tapestry of Bayeux Screenprints on Display,” Decker Library Exhibits and Displays, accessed May 14, 2024, https://deckerlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/21.