read therein of woven fabrics, not only worked on the loom, but also
made by hand, that is, richly embroidered in needlework on linen or
canvas. These magnificent fabrics, which were laboriously and minutely
executed, represented all kinds of designs in relief and in colours;
they were used as decorations for the holy temple, and as ornamental
garments for the priests who performed the religious ceremonies.
Indubitable proof of this is the description, in the book of Exodus, of
the curtains surrounding the tabernacle. Some of these embroideries, in
the manufacture of which gold and silver thread, combined with dyed
wools and silk, was used, were named _opus plumarii_ (work in imitation
of bird’s plumage); others--such, for example, as the veil of the Holy
of Holies, which represented cherubim in the act of adoration--were
called _opus artificis_ (work of the artisan), because they were made by
the weaver on the loom; and, with the aid of numerous shuttles, the woof
of wools and silks of various hues was introduced.
In the traditions of the magnificent city of Babylon we also find
figured tapestry delineating the mysteries of religion, and handing
down to us the recollection of historical incidents. “The palace of the
kings of Babylon,” says Philostratus, in the “Life of Apollonius of
Tyana,” “was ornamented with tapestries in gold and silver tissues,
which recorded the Grecian fables of Andromeda, of Orpheus, &c.” The
Greek poet Apollonius of Rhodes, who wrote a century before our era,
relates in his poem of “The Argonauts” that the women of Babylon
excelled in the execution of these gorgeous textures. The famous
tapestries which were sold in the time of Metellus Scipio for 800,000
sesterces (about 165,000 francs), and a hundred years later were
purchased for the exorbitant sum of two million sesterces (about 412,000
francs) by Nero, to place on his festive couches, were of Babylonian
workmanship.
Ancient Egypt, which would seem to have been the early cradle of an
advanced civilisation, was also renowned for this marvellous art, the
invention of which the Greeks attributed to Minerva, and to which
allusion is frequently made in their mythology. Penelope’s web, whereon
were delineated the exploits of Ulysses, has remained the most
celebrated among them all. It was on a similar web that Philomela, in
her prison, illustrated in embroidery the narrative of her misfortunes,
after Tereus had cut out her tongue, to prevent her telling her sister
Progne the outrage she had suffered at his hands.
Throughout the poems of Homer we find embroidery of this kind either
mentioned, or described as made with the needle or loom, and intended
for decorative drapery, or as garments for men and women. During the
siege of Troy, Helen embroidered, upon a fine tissue, the sanguinary
combats of the heroes who were destroying each other for her sake. The
cloak of Ulysses represents a dog pulling down a fawn, &c.
The custom of embroidering such scenes as combats and hunting-incidents
seems to have lasted during a long time. According to Herodotus, certain
races bordering on the Caspian Sea were accustomed to have figures of
animals, flowers, and landscapes delineated on their garments. This
custom is mentioned among the pagans by Philostratus, and among
Christians by Clement of Alexandria. Pliny, the naturalist, who lived in
the first century of our era, also alludes to it on several occasions in
his works. Three hundred years later, Amasius, Bishop of Amasia,
deplores the folly which “set a great value on this art of weaving, a
vain and useless art, which by the combination of the warp and woof
imitates painting.” “When persons thus dressed appear in the street,”
adds the pious bishop, “the passers-by look at them as walking pictures,
and the children point at them with their finger. We see lions,
panthers, bears, rocks, woods, hunters; the religiously inclined have
Christ, his disciples, and his miracles figured on their garments. Here
we see the wedding of Cana, and the pitchers of water turned into wine;
there we have the paralytic carrying his bed, or the sinner at the feet
of Jesus, or Lazarus being raised from the dead.”
We have only to look into the works of the writers of the time of
Augustus to learn that the halls in the houses of the wealthy were
always hung with tapestry; and that the tables, or rather the beds, upon
which the guests were seated, were covered with carpets.
The Attalian carpets, which were thus named because they came from the
inheritance bequeathed to the Roman people by Attalus, King of Pergamos,
were indescribably magnificent. Cicero, who was a connoisseur in such
matters, speaks of them with enthusiasm in his works.
Under Theodosius I., that is to say, at the time of the decline of the
great empire which was soon to break up and be separated, and at last to
merge into new nationalities, a contemporaneous historian shows us “the
youth of Rome engaged in making tapestry-work.”
In the early period of French history, this ingenious and delicate work
would seem to have been mainly carried on by women, and especially by
those of the highest rank. At any rate it is a fact that rich tapestries
were in common use, both in private houses and for ecclesiastical
purposes, as early as the sixth century; for Gregory of Tours does not
fail to tell us of the embroidered hangings, and also of the tapestry,
in most of the ceremonies which he describes. When King Clovis renounced
paganism and asked to be baptised, “this intelligence was the greatest
joy to the bishop; he orders the sacred fonts to be prepared; the
streets overhung with painted cloths; the churches ornamented with
hangings.” When the abbey-church of St. Denis had to be consecrated,
“its walls are covered with tapestry embroidered in gold and ornamented
with pearls.” These tapestries were for a long time preserved in the
abbey-treasury. Subsequently, this same treasury received, as a present
from Queen Adelaide, the wife of Hugh Capet, “a chasuble, a valance, as
also some hangings, worked by her own hand;” and Doublet, the historian
of this ancient abbey, states that Queen Bertha (the same whom the old
French proverb makes an indefatigable worker with her needle)
embroidered on canvas a series of historical subjects, depicting the
glorious deeds of the family.
Nevertheless, there is no written authority for asserting that in France
the manufacture of tapestries and hangings worked on the loom can be
traced beyond the ninth century; but at this period, and a little later,
we find some documents which are as precise as they are curious--proving
that this industry, the principal object of which, at that period, was
the ornamentation of churches, had to a certain extent obtained a
footing, and was flourishing in religious establishments. The ancient
chronicles of Auxerre relate that St. Anthelm, the bishop of that city,
who died in 828, caused to be made, under his own directions, numerous
rich carpets for the choir of his church.
One hundred years later we find a regular manufactory established at the
monastery of St. Florent, at Saumur. “In the time of the abbot Robert
III.,” says the historian of this monastery, “the vestry (_fabrique_) of
the cloister was further enriched by magnificent paintings and pieces of
sculpture, accompanied by legends in verse. The above-mentioned abbot,
who was passionately devoted to similar works, sought for and purchased
a considerable quantity of magnificent ornaments, such as large
_dorserets_[1] in wool, curtains, canopies, hangings, bench-covers, and
other ornaments, embroidered with various devices. Among other objects,
he caused to be made two pieces of tapestry of large size and of
admirable quality, representing elephants; and these two pieces were
joined together with a rare kind of silk, by hired workers in tapestry.
He also ordered two _dorserets_ in wool to be manufactured. It happened
that, during the time one of these was being completed, the
above-mentioned abbot went to France. The ecclesiastic left in charge
took advantage of his absence to forbid the artisans to work the woof
according to the customary method. ‘Well,’ said they, ‘in the absence of
our good abbot we will not discontinue our employment; but as you thwart
us we shall make quite a different kind of fabric.’ And this now admits
of proof. They made several square carpets, representing silver lions
upon a field of _gules_ (red), with a white border covered with scarlet
animals and birds. This unique piece of workmanship was looked upon as a
perfect specimen of this kind of fabric, until the time of the abbot
William, when it was considered the most remarkable piece of tapestry
belonging to the monastery. In fact, on the occasions of great
solemnities the abbot had the elephant tapestry displayed, and one of
the priors showed that on which were the lions.”
From the ninth or tenth century there was also a manufactory at
Poitiers; and its fabrics, on which figured kings, emperors, and saints,
were of European celebrity, as appears to be attested, among other
documents, by a remarkable correspondence which took place, in 1025,
between an Italian bishop, named Léon, and William IV., Count of Poitou.
To understand rightly this correspondence, it must be borne in mind that
at the time Poitou was as famous for its mules as for tapestry. In one
of his letters, the bishop begs the count to send him a mule and a piece
of tapestry, both equally marvellous (_mirabiles_), and for which he has
been asking six years. He promises to pay whatever they may cost. The
count, who must have had a facetious disposition, replied, “I cannot, at
present, send you what you ask, because for a mule to merit the epithet
of marvellous, he would require to have horns, and three tails, or five
legs--and this I should not be able to find in our country. I shall
therefore content myself with sending you one of the best I can procure.
As to the tapestry, I have forgotten the dimensions you desire. Let me
have these particulars again, and it will then soon be sent to you.”
But this costly industry was not limited to the French provinces. In the
“Chronique des Ducs de Normandie,” written by Dudon, in the eleventh
century, it is stated that the English were clever workers in this art;
and when designating some magnificent embroidery, or rich tapestry, it
was described as of English work (_opus Anglicanum_). Moreover, the same
chronicle relates that the wife of Richard I.,[2] the Duchess Gonnor,
assisted by her embroiderers, made hangings of linen and of silk,
embellished with images and figures representing the Virgin Mary and the
Saints, to decorate the church of Notre Dame, Rouen.
The East, also, which from the earliest times had been renowned for the
art of producing beautiful embroidered fabrics, became still more famous
during the Middle Ages for those of wool and silk, embroidered with
silver and gold. It was from the East were brought the rich stuffs
covered all over with emblazonments, and with figures of animals, and
probably also embroidered in open-work: these fabrics were called
_étoffes sculptées_, or _pleines d’yeux_.
The librarian Anastasius, in his book the “Lives of the Popes,” which
undoubtedly was written before the eleventh century, gives, when
describing church decorations, some curious and circumstantial details
regarding the subject we are now discussing. According to him, as early
as the time of Charlemagne (eighth century), Pope Leo III. “had a veil
made of purple worked in gold, on which was the history of the Nativity
and of Simon, having in the centre the Annunciation of the Virgin.” This
was to ornament the principal altar of the Holy Mother of God, at Rome.
He also ordered for the altar of the church of St. Laurence, “a veil of
silk worked in gold, having on it the histories of the Passion of our
Saviour and of the Resurrection.” He placed on the altar of St. Peter’s
“a veil of purple of a remarkable size, worked in gold and ornamented
with precious stones; on one side was seen our Saviour giving St. Peter
the power to bind and to loose, on the other the Passion of St. Peter
and St. Paul.” In the same book, several other pieces of tapestry are
described in such terms that it seems difficult to realise the richness
and the beauty of finish of these artistically-worked fabrics, which for
the most part came from Asia or Egypt. It was only in the twelfth
century, after the return from the first crusades had enabled Western
nations to admire and to appropriate to themselves luxuries quite new to
them, that the custom of using tapestry, while becoming far more general
in churches, found its way also into private dwellings. If, in the
cloisters, the monks, in order to find employment, lavished their utmost
care on the weaving of wool and of silk, there was the more reason why
this occupation should prove pleasing to the noble _châtelaines_ who
were confined to their feudal castles. It was then, when surrounded by
their tire-women, as in earlier times were the Roman matrons by their
slaves, that these fair dames, while listening to the reading of tales
of chivalry which deeply interested them, or inspired by a profound
faith, gave themselves to the task of reproducing with the needle either
the pious legends of the saints or the glorious exploits of warriors.
The bare walls, when thus draped with touching incidents or warlike
memorials, assumed a peculiar eloquence which doubtless inspired the
mind with grand visions, and aroused noble sentiments in the heart.
Among the finest specimens of this kind is one which, owing to its
really exquisite character, has escaped what would have seemed
inevitable destruction. We allude to the famous Bayeux tapestry called
“_de la Reine Mathilde_” (of the wife of William the Conqueror). This
work represents the conquest of England by the Normans. If we are to
accept the ancient traditions to which it owes its name, it must date
from the last half of the eleventh century.
In these days we may be permitted to doubt, in consequence of the many
discussions that have taken place among the learned, if this embroidery
is as ancient as was at one time supposed. And although we first find it
alluded to in an inventory (prepared in 1476) of the treasury of Bayeux
Cathedral, we may venture, with a certain degree of confidence, to
believe that it was made in the twelfth century by Englishwomen, who at
that time were particularly famous for their needlework; an opinion
confirmed by more than one author contemporaneous with William and
Matilda.
This tapestry, which is 19 inches in height, by nearly 212 feet in
length, is a piece of brown linen, on which are embroidered with the
needle, in wool of different colours (and these seem to have lost none
of their early freshness), a series of seventy-two groups or subjects,
with legends in Latin interspersed with Saxon, embracing the whole
history of the Conquest, as related by the chroniclers of the period
(Figs. 27 and 28).
At the first glance, this embroidery may seem to be but a rudely
executed grouping of figures and animals; nevertheless there is
character throughout, and the original outline, discoverable beneath the
intersections of the wool, is not wanting in a certain accuracy that
brings to our mind the vigorous simplicity of the Byzantine style. The
decoration of the double border, between which is delineated a drama
wherein 530 figures are introduced, is the same as those of the
paintings in manuscripts of the Middle Ages. And, in short, failing any
exact proof, if we are determined not to deprive this immense work of
its traditional antiquity, it might, with much probability, be
attributed to a female embroiderer of Queen Matilda, named Leviet, whose
skill has rescued her name from oblivion. It may also be well to observe
that at the time it is first alluded to in history, this tapestry is
found belonging to the very church in which Matilda desired to be
buried.
We have already seen (in the chapter on Furniture) that towards the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, under the influence of Eastern habits
and
[Illustration: Fig. 27.--A piece of the Bayeux Tapestry, representing
the construction of Boats for William (with Border).]
customs, the practice of sitting on carpets was established at the court
of our kings. From this date rich tapestries were frequently used for
making tents for campaigning or for hunting. They were displayed on
festive occasions; as, for instance, when princes were entering a town,
the object being to hide the bare walls. The dining-halls were hung with
magnificent tapestries, giving additional splendour to the interludes
(_entremets_, or _intermèdes_) performed during the repast. The
champions in the lists saw glittering around them, suspended from the
galleries, fabrics on which heroic deeds were embroidered. Lastly, the
caparison of the charger (the war-horse’s garb of honour) displayed its
brilliant emblazonings to the eyes of admiring crowds.
[Illustration: Fig. 28.--A portion of the Bayeux Tapestry, representing
two mounted men of Duke William’s army armed from head to foot, and in
the act of fighting.]
It was moreover the custom that the tapestries made for noblemen should
bear their respective armorial devices, the object being, no doubt, that
it might be known to whom they belonged when used on the occasion of the
entry of royal and other distinguished personages in solemn processions;
and also at jousts and tournaments.
In the fourteenth century the manufactories of Flanders, which were of
considerable reputation even about the twelfth century, made great
advance, and the success of the Arras tapestries became so general that
the most handsome hangings were called Arras tapestry, although the
greater part of them did not come from that city. It may here be noticed
that the term _Arrazi_ is, in Italy, still synonymous with valuable
tapestry (Fig. 29).
These fabrics were generally worked in wool, and sometimes in flax and
linen: but at the same period Florence and Venice, which had imported
this industry from the East, wove tapestries wherein gold and silk were
blended.
[Illustration: Fig. 20.--Marriage of Louis XII. and Anne of Brittany.
Tapestry in wool and silk, with a mixture of gold and silver thread.
Made in Flanders the end of the Fifteenth Century. (Lent by M. Achille
Jubinal.)]
An inventory, dated 21st January, 1379, contained in a manuscript now in
the “Bibliothèque Impériale,”--in which are enumerated “all the jewels
in gold and silver, all the rooms with embroidery and tapestries
belonging to Charles V.,”--gives us an idea not only of the multiplicity
of hangings and tapestries that appertained to the personal property of
royalty, especially at the Hôtel Saint-Pol, but it also shows us the
variety
[Illustration: THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.
Tapestry of Berne of the fifteenth Century
(Communicated by M. Achille Jubinal.)]
of subjects therein represented. A few of these pieces of tapestry are
still preserved, but among some which have been destroyed or lost we may
mention those representing the Passion of our Saviour, the Life of St.
Denis, the Life of St. Theseus, and that entitled Goodness and
Beauty--all these were of large dimensions. Then again, the tapestry of
the Seven Mortal Sins, two pieces of the Nine Bold Knights, that of the
ladies hunting and flying (_qui volent_), in other words, hawking; that
of the Wild Men; two of Godfrey de Bouillon; a white tapestry for a
chapel, in the centre of which was seen “a compass with a rose,”
emblazoned with the arms of France and of Dauphiny, this was three yards
square; one large handsome piece of tapestry, “the king has bought,
which is worked with gold, representing the Seven Sciences and St.
Augustin;” the tapestry of Judith (the queen who subsequently appears on
playing-cards); a large piece of Arras cloth, representing the Battles
of Judas Maccabæeus and Antiochus; another of “the Battle of the Duke of
Aquitaine and of Florence;” a piece of tapestry “whereon are worked the
twelve months of the year;” another of “the Fountain of Jouvent”
(Jouvence), a large piece of tapestry “covered with azure fleurs-de-lys,
which said fleurs-de-lys are mingled with other small yellow
fleurs-de-lys, having in the centre a lion, and, at the four corners,
beasts holding banners, &c.”--in fact, the list is endless. We must
still, however, add to these figured tapestries those with armorial
bearings, made for the most part with “Arras thread,” and bearing the
arms of France and Behaigne (the latter being those of the queen,
daughter of the King of Bohemia). There was also a piece of tapestry
“worked with towers, fallow bucks and does, to put over the king’s
boat.” The tapestry called _velus_, or velvet, which now we call
_moquettes_, was as commonly seen as any other kind. There were also to
be noticed the _Salles d’Angleterre_, or the tapestries from that
country, which, as we have said, had previously acquired a great
celebrity in that art. Among these one was “_ynde_ (blue), with trees
and wild men, with wild animals, and castles;” others were vermilion,
embroidered with azure, having vignette borders, and in the centre
lions, eagles, and leopards.
In addition to these, Charles V. possessed at his castle of Melun many
“silken fabrics and tapestries.” At the Louvre one could but admire,
among other magnificent pieces of tapestry, “a very lovely green room,
ornamented with silk covered with leaves; and representing in the centre
a lion, which two queens were in the act of crowning, and a fountain
wherein swans were disporting themselves.”
Yet we must not be led away with the idea that it was only the royal
palaces which presented such sumptuousness; for it would be easy to
enumerate many instances similar to those we have given, by looking over
the inventories of the personal property of nobles, or those of the
treasuries of certain churches and abbeys. In one place the tapestries
represent religious subjects taken from the Bible, the Gospels, or the
legends of the saints; in another the subjects are either historical or
relating to chivalry, more especially battles or hunting scenes (Fig.
30).
We are thus justified in asserting that the luxury of tapestry was
general among the higher classes. An expensive taste it was; because not
only does an examination of these marvellous works show us that they
could have been purchased only at a very high price, but in old
documents we find more than one certain confirmation of this fact. For
example, Amaury de Goire, a worker in tapestry, received in 1348, from
the Duke of Normandy and Guienne, 492 livres, 3 sous, 9 deniers, for “a
woollen cloth,” on which were represented scenes from the Old and New
Testaments. In 1368, Huchon Barthélmy, money-changer, received 900
golden francs for a piece of “worked tapestry, representing La Quête de
St. Graal (the search for the blood of Christ); and in 1391, the
tapestry exhibiting the history of Theseus, to which we have already
alluded, was purchased by Charles V. for 1,200 livres; all these sums,
considering the period, were really exorbitant.
The sixteenth century, remarkable for the progress and the excellence to
which the arts of every kind had attained, gave a renewed impulse to
that of tapestry. A manufactory was established by Francis I., at
Fontainebleau, where the tapestry was woven in one entire piece, instead
of being made up, as had been the practice, of separate pieces matched
and sewn together. In this new fabric gold and silver threads were mixed
with silk and wool.
When Francis sent for the Primate from Italy, he commissioned him to
procure designs for several pieces of tapestry, to be made in the
workshops of Fontainebleau. But, while liberally rewarding the Italian
or Flemish artists and artisans collected in the dependencies of his
château, the king still continued to employ Parisian tapestry-workers;
proof of which is to be found in a receipt of the sieurs Miolard and
Pasquier, who give an
[Illustration: Fig. 30.--Tapestry representing a Hunting Scene, from the
Château d’Effiat. (In the possession of M. Achille Jubinal.)]
acknowledgment of having been paid 410 _livres tournois_, “to begin the
purchase of materials and other requisites for a piece of silk tapestry,
which the said seigneur had ordered them to make for his coronation,
according to the patterns which the said seigneur has had prepared for
this purpose, and on which must be represented a Leda, with certain
nymphs, satyrs, &c.”
[Illustration: Fig. 31.--The Weaver. Drawn and Engraved by J. Amman.]