Archives for February 2018

Jan 25, 2018 Nikola Budanovic Reprinted from The Vintage News – Jan 26, 2018

First, an answer to a question. Magna Carta Panels; “Get out and get under” photo. Yes, it is unusual to have to do this. It is sometimes necessary when repairing old textiles that cannot be rolled onto the wooden frame bars. In the case of the panels, my guess is that there was something not quite right about some stitching in the central area that needed some attention.

For the first time in 950 years, the famous Bayeux Tapestry will leave its home in France and head for England. The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the artistic wonders of the Middle Ages, depicting the Norman invasion of Britain, the Battle of Hastings, and the subsequent rule of William the Conqueror.

Notice the wind in the sails and the horses marveling at sailing on the sea. Also, that everything, in all these pictures, is proportionally correct and balanced. Then, go and take another look at the battle scenes. The picture below does not show the proportion distortions.

The 224-foot-long panorama, which serves as a priceless piece of history, is currently located in Bayeux, a town in Normandy. A recent announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that the delicate artifact will be loaned to England has created much excitement and debate on both sides of the English Channel.

The tapestry was originally woven in Kent, in southeast England, somewhere around 1070, by the order of Bishop Odo, William’s half-brother, who intended to use it solely for its narrative potential―after William I made a foothold in England, he claimed the English throne. The tapestry was meant to justify his attempt as legitimate, as he was the victor at Hastings.

A segment of the Bayeux Tapestry depicting Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, (with his bludgeoning mace) rallying Duke William’s troops during the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

The Battle of Hastings was one of the turning points in British history; the defeat suffered by the Saxon King Harold marked the beginning of the Norman period in Britain. The landowning elite were completely replaced by Norman royalty, and so was the culture and the language―Old English was all but lost as a literary language throughout the 11th and 12th century.

William the Conqueror established his rule, but it was plagued by decades of rebellions, uprisings, and civil wars. Even though he crowned in 1066, it was not until 1072 that William’s grip on the country was firm.

The craftsmen who produced the work almost 1,000 years ago remain unknown, but their work is anything but. The tapestry is considered to have exquisite artistic value, as well as historic. The depictions of the horrors of war, which include headless soldiers, King Harold being shot in the eye with an arrow, dead horses, and Normans burning and pillaging villages might be the first ever to challenge the chivalrous image of the period.

It still uncertain which museum will take responsibility for housing the relic. The British Museum in London was cited as the initial host, while the English Heritage Museum, which owns Battle Abbey, built by William himself to commemorate the Battle of Hastings in 1066, claims that the tapestry should, at least temporarily, be displayed at the place where the historical battle actually took place.

The loan is scheduled for the year 2022, when restoration of the Bayeux museum in France will take place. So the tapestry would be sent for safekeeping, but the transport itself is a tricky issue. The millennium-old embroidered cloth is very fragile and the risk of damaging it during transport looms over Macron’s decision.

The current curator of the tapestry, Pierre Bouet, stated for the Guardian that, at first, he considered the news was a hoax, but when it proved to be true, his skepticism increased: “If you were to ask my advice, despite the regard I have for my English colleagues who I have worked with for many years, I would say no.”

On the other hand, both the Heritage Museum and the British Museum are thrilled with the prospect of the return of the medieval masterpiece to England. Rowena Willard-Wright, a senior curator at English Heritage, implied in her interview for the Guardian that the tapestry should be located outside London:

“The problem for the British Museum is what you might call the Tutankhamun effect: people end up queuing all the way into Russell Square. If people have to queue, where better than the Sussex countryside?”

The staff of the British Museum consider the 70-meter-long panorama too fragile to be moved from one place to another, and that it would be safest to keep it in one place. Michael Lewis, a curator, claims that conservation and practical difficulties would make the tapestry impossible to tour.

Related story from us: Off to the ‘holy places’: pilgrimages during the Middle Ages

However, the British Museum in London considers the artwork pivotal and would like to make it accessible to as many people as possible. The decisions on where it will be housed, and even if safe transportation will be possible, are yet to be made. Until then, the tapestry remains exhibited in the Bayeux city museum, in the picturesque countryside of Lower Normandy’s department of Calvados.

This is all very exciting and not even contemplated publicly when I started writing this sequential account of Embroideries that Record History. I will be taking a further look at the resurgence of Large Embroideries in future postings.

This is all very exciting and not even contemplated publicly when I started writing this sequential account of Embroideries that Record History. I will be taking a further look at the resurgence of Large Embroideries in future postings.

It is time for me to return to stitching which has been neglected lately. I hope that you have enjoyed reading and seeing these photos and videos. I have tried hard to be accurate but have undoubtedly made errors all of which were unintentional.

Comments are welcome, bye for now, Ann B.

Moving to more recent times, the Magna Carta (an Embroidery) commemorates the 800th Anniversary of the signing of this document by King John and the Barons. It is the charter of rights and freedoms and formed the base of the Constitution of England and many other countries,

Magna Carta (An Embroidery) is a 2015 work by English installation artist Cornelia Parker.

The artwork is an embroidered representation of the complete text and images of an online encyclopedia article for Magna Carta, as it appeared in English Wikipedia on 15 June 2014, the 799th anniversary of the document.

The making of and, the finished Embroidery, watch this video:

Magna_Carta_An_Embroidery.ogv

This is an introductory and very complete view of the Embroidery. And, it is fascinating.

The hand-stitched embroidery is 1.5 metres wide and nearly 13 metres long. It is a response to the legacy of Magna Carta in the digital era and Parker has referred to it as “a snapshot of where the debate is right now”, the result of all open edits by English Wikipedians up to that date.

It was commissioned by the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford in partnership with the British Library, after being chosen from proposals from a shortlist of artists in February 2014.

Cornelia Parker used a screenshot from the 15 June 2014 English Wikipedia article for Magna Carta and printed it onto fabric.

To read this article on line, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta

Like English Wikipedia, the embroidery was created through the collaboration of many individuals.

It was divided into 87 sections and sent to 200 individuals who each hand-stitched portions of the artwork. Cornelia Parker sought the collaboration of people and groups that have been affected by and associated with Magna Carta.

The bulk of the text of the Wikipedia page has been embroidered in various prisons by inmates under the supervision of Fine Cell Work, a asocial enterprise that trains prisoners in paid, skilled, creative needlework. https://finecellwork.co.uk

The detailed pictures, emblems and logos that punctuate the text have been fashioned by highly accomplished members of the Embroiderers’ Guild, a national charity that promotes and encourages the art of embroidery and related crafts, alongside embroiderers from the Royal School of Needlework and the leading embroidery company Hand & Lock.

At least one embroiderer was selected from each region of the UK. Many celebrities and public figures also contributed, stitching phrases or words of special significance to them.

Cornelia Parker has represented the work as “echoing the communal activity that resulted in the Bayeux Tapestry but on this occasion placing more emphasis on the word rather than the image, I wanted to create an artwork that is a contemporary interpretation of Magna Carta.”

This piece of or nué embroidery is part of the Cornelia Parker installation. The lady who stitched this is featured in the first video.

It is difficult and time consuming to stitch this technique.

Tomorrow: The Magna Carta Panels.