Six Popular Medieval Tapestries
European tapestries are as diverse as the cultures that produce them, and, like few other forms of art, they enjoy a rich history that spans the entire globe and centuries of human civilization. They can depict anything from heraldry, to allegorical scenes from myths and legends, images of religious significance, scenes of a modern time, or anything the artist can imagine. Medieval tapestries are some of the most highly prized in the world and even if you do not own one, you can see them hung in numerous museums and collections throughout the world. Furthermore, even if a tapestry doesn’t hang on your wall presently, you can own one today. Quality-made replicas of famous tapestries are readily available and often difficult to discern the medieval tapestries of yesteryear. The intent with this article is to introduce you to six of the most popular medieval tapestries.
The Lady and the Unicorn
The Lady and the Unicorn is a late 15th century tapestry from France, specifically a series of six tapestries, which currently reside in the Musée National du Moyen Âge (National Museum of the Middle Ages) in Paris, which is housed in one of the oldest buildings in Paris, the former Benedictine monastery of the abbots of Cluny. The way the six tapestries are arranged is intriguing. Five of them are said to represent the senses of Taste, Touch, Hearing, Sight and Smell, while the sixth represents what could arguably be considered the feeling of Desire. How do we come to this conclusion? On the sixth tapestry, a phrase can be loosely translated to ‘My only wish or by my will alone’. In the sixth tapestry, a woman can be seen putting a necklace that she wears throughout the other pieces into a chest. Perhaps here, doing so is meant to symbolize her exercising free of will, or a turning away from the heightened passions brought about by the other senses represented in the other tapestries. The titular unicorn, along with a lion, appears to the left and right respectively, holding up one banner each. You can usually get the set together or purchase each panel separately. However should you decide to get them, we recommend that you do it soon. Tapestries like this are unique and truly striking, and as such, quite popular.
Mille-Fleur Tapestries
Mille-Fleur tapestries are named for their design, which features thousands of flowers (the words literally translate to ‘thousand flowers’). It was a motif that was immensely popular during the Middle Ages, and it is features not only in tapestries, but in the applied arts as well (wherein images were put to items of everyday use like cups, bottles and bowls). The Lady and the Unicorn and The Hunt of the Unicorn are two of the most popular pieces done in this style. For those with a more refined sense of style, a mille-fleur tapestry may be just the thing to liven up your home or office.
The Unicorn in Captivity
Part of The Hunt of the Unicorn series of seven tapestries, this one, along with its six brothers, is rich in pagan and Christian symbolism. Of course, how one interprets the images depends on what one believes. Their origins are not strictly known, but it is believed that these tapestries, which were crafted during the years 1495 and 1505, were commissioned by Anne of Brittany for her marriage to King Louis XIII of France. Unicorn in captivity displays the unicorn alive and bound in a small corral, depicted on a field of black covered in numerous flowers. The distinction must be made, because the nobles and hunters who were tracking the unicorn killed it in another tapestry. Presumably, this tapestry exists as a symbol of ‘modern’ man triumphing over the older and (to their minds) outdated beliefs of their pagan forebears. Whatever you believe, this tapestry makes a bold and beautiful statement for any room.
Winemarket Tapestry
This delightful and vivacious tapestry depicts a bustling trading day at the wine market, where spirits and coin change hands in the hopes of those same spirits becoming free flowing later on. A stately white castle looms in the background, adding a majestic air to this image of excess and commercialism, and its warm hues will add a lovely ambiance to any room you choose.
Verdure with Reindeer
Verdure, meaning ‘green’ truly brings this tapestry to life. This tapestry is part of a group of six that tells the tale of the Arthurian Knights’ quest for the Holy Grail, and adds a sense of majesty and wonder to any room. The reindeer forage among the trees in a verdant forest, while the shields of some of King Arthur’s most notable nights can be seen, including Sirs Gawaine, Bors, Ector, Galahad, Lancelot and Perceval. Each shield is intricately detailed with the knight’s own arms and colors, and looking at it, one can easily find themselves drawn back over the centuries to the mythical time of Merlin, Arthur, Camelot and Excalibur.
The Round Table Tapestry
For lovers of Arthurian myths and legends, this tapestry is another delightful part of the six-piece set telling the tale of the knights’ quest for the Holy Grail. Here, Sirs Bors, Gawaine, Lancelot, Palomedes, Perceval, Lemorak and Hector de Marys can be seen, along with Arthur, and next to the Once and Future King is the Seige Perilous, where Lacelot’s son Galahad will one day sit. The woman on the right brings the quest to these most worthy knights. This tapestry adds a stately allure to any room, hung over a couch, for example, or a fireplace mantle, and best of all, it makes for an outstanding conversation piece. Whether your love for myth encompasses all thing Arthurian, or simply all things mythological, this is one tapestry you will not want to pass up.
Without a doubt, what these European tapestries prove is that some of the most notable and deserving art can survive into the modern age. This ensures that even if the originals are eventually lost, as tends to happen, you will have your very own piece of history. You and your friends and guests can embrace the mystery and grace of these spectacular tapestries by telling the old tales of the stories behind the tapestries, or stretching the wings of your imaginations that these pieces of art make fertile, and telling your own tales. Either way, any one of these unforgettable tapestries will leave an indelible mark upon all who see them and a favorable impression who own them.
