Tapestry: The Origins

The subjects of the earliest tapestries of Western civilisation which we possess are not courts of chivalry and other profane splendour. Woven in the tranquil seclusion of the monasteries, among the arcades of Romanesque cloisters, they represent the patient work of the devout, originally dedicated to beautifying the house of God. The origin of the tapestry techniques themselves remains an enigma. Centuries before, the Copts wove narrative accounts in to their panels in much the same way; it is possible that the invading Arabs appropriated their idea from whom later the Crusaders acquired it. But this is pure hypothesis, without proof or evidence. We may as well admit our ignorance and start with the first tapestry woven in the West which is known to us as – the Cloth of St Gereon. The title of these tapestry fragments which are scattered between the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin, the Musee des Tissus in Lyon, the Victoria and Albert museum in London, and the National Museum in Nuremberg, is taken from the place of origin, the wonderful church of St Gereon in Cologne, where it hung in the choir. Some experts regard the work as original – a supposition as sound as any other if we agree that the art of tapestry is oriental. But this is not so; the decorative motif (a bull attacked by a gryphon, in medallions) derives from Sassanian textiles (already found in Cologne itself); but the ornamentation of the border and the background are of Western Inspiration, remarkably similar to that illuminated in 11th century manuscripts. No other examples survive, until the panels in the cathedral of Halberstadt. The oldest, a strip depicting Abraham and the Archangel Michael –was probably woven around 1175. The strip depicting Christ with the Apostles can be dated one or two decades later, while the third – Charlemagne among the Four Philosophers- dates from the early years of the 15th century.

In the St Gereon tapestry the decorative motifs are repeated identically at regular intervals over the entire surface. On the panels at Halberstadt there is, however, a definite change, which was to affect the future of Western tapestry. Historic figures appear here as a theme. Here are greater affinities with the sculptural elements of illuminated manuscripts, and an obvious connection with the artistic, cultural and historical school of Lower Saxony, where they were woven. The tapestry panel depicting the Charlemagna can be compared with another woven work of tapestry art, the famous knotted carpet of Quedlingburg, from the studio of the convent of the Badessa Agnese, completed in about 1203.

There is no proof that the tapestry panel of Charlemagne was woven in this studio, but the similarities of the two pieces is clear; in the style (plastic sense, subtlety of design and variety of color), and in the cultural content, the choice of the ‘learned’ themes of classical inspiration. These themes, although carefully selected, are freely treated. The subject of the Quedlinburg tapestry, the Marriage of Mercury and philogy can be traced to a Latin text, reproduced by the 5th century African rhetorician, Martianus Cappella. Equally, Charlemagne’s position as the fifth and most important sage of the Roman and Greek philosophers is not a profane glorification of the Emperor but a pious metamorphosis of the great antiquity in to Christian heroes. Alexander the Great, Virgil and Trajan were later transmogrified in the same way.

The tapestry panel depicting Charlemagne is, unlike those already referred to, woven with a vertical instead of a horizontal warp. This was no doubt due to the difficulty of weaving strips of tapestry of unusual dimensions on a small loom. A fairly good idea of these old looms can be obtained from a ‘trademark’ in the workshop of a German convent, of much later date, but accurate enough, as the method of weaving remained almost unaltered during the Middle Ages. In the border of the tapestry, ‘Passion’ at Bamburg, two nuns are seen at work. One is seated at an upright loom on which the threads of the warp are set (later they were unrolled from a beam placed at the top of the loom). The nun has already separated the even and uneven threads with sticks and fixed them to heddle strings, which allows her to alter their position. She then manipulates the spindles on which the threads of the weft are wound, divided as to color and material (in those days only wool and flax – later, silk, silver and gold thread were used). The threads of the weft were then passed backwards and forwards between the two alternating series of warp threads which were thus entirely covered up. The nun works on what is to be the reverse of the tapestry, while her companion standing besides her compares the completed work with the design (or cartoon) which is placed at her side.

Tapestry looms of the same type were probably also used in Norway. The most important document about the ancient manufacture of tapestry is the fragments The Months of April and May (the remains of the decoration of a pew, once in the church of Baldishol, now in the Kunstindustrimuseet of Oslo). It is contemporary with the tapestry panel of Charlemagne, but its simplicity of form and color are quite different from the subtle effects of the latter’s more sophisticated treatment.

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