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Issues between Artists and Tapestry Producers

6/29/2017

A contrast originated between artists and tapestry workshops:
The artist provided the preparatory draft that was sized and painted either by the artist himself or by a workshop specialized artist.

Draft and models circulated. The workshops used the same models several times.

Clients chose their tapestry between these models whose details could be combined: like figures, backgrounds or floral motifs.

The workshops also took inspiration from major artists copying details or figures that were used out of their original contest.

The controversy between artists and tapestry workshops broke out in bruxelles in 1476. The result was the prohibition of intervening on the painted models from the weavers. Only background and decorative elements could be changed.

Tapestry Production and Customers in XIV and XV Centuries

6/26/2017

A period of crisis and rivalry between Flemish and English manufacture along the 1300 hundred produced a major change in French and Flemish tapestry production.

The workshop specialized in luxurious production. The ateliers were converted to use the techniques allowing the use of finest materials, fine details and artistic expression.

Refined tapestry production required big investment to purchase the costly raw material (linen, wool, silk, gold and silver) and the qualified technicians.

Entrepreneurs merchants anticipated the money needed for the tapestry production and to support the payment delays of the buyers.

Phases of Tapestry Making

6/22/2017

First the wire bundles were sized to be placed on the loom creating the warp. 4 weaver were required to accomplish this task.
The second phase was to sort all the needed colored wires and to organize them in families of colors.
Thirdly the weaving of the rimming and finally the in weave of the design.
The loom could be vertical or horizontal.
The vertical loom allowed freedom of interpretation: the carton was placed next to it and could be interpreted by the weaver, vertical loom not allowed precision.
Horizontal loom had the carton placed below and allowed to copy the model exactly creating a mirror copy of the painting.
Horizontal loom was favored for exclusive commissions.
The weavers worked one next to the other on section of about 1m, or half a meter if gold treat was used.

Tapestries Subjects

6/19/2017

Historically fabric was used to depict heraldic symbols. These kept being depicted but the subjects widely increased.

Sacred subjects were required for cathedral’s choir and were usually taken from the bible or evangelic episodes.

Pagan subject varied from the ornamental and vegetal patterns of the medieval times to most complex ones usually aimed to commemorate their commitments.
Hunting or war scenes were popular as episodes from ancient Greek and Roman history.
Historical and celebrative subjects were required too. Naturalistic themes continued to be produced as well.

Tapestry Materials

6/16/2017

The material used to produce the best tapestries were silk, wool, linen and eventually gold and silver.
Linen and wool were employed for the warp; wool and silk for the weave.
The finest wool came from England, silk from Italy, while gold originate in Cyprus island.
The difference in quality depended also from the size of the wire used for the warp and the weave.

Famous Artists painting Tapestries Cartoons

6/12/2017

When tapestry became a luxurious and exclusive artistic production major artists were hired to paint original cartoons for the wealthiest requests.
The preparatory drawing was later sized to reach the final requirement.
The artist produced a large cartoon painted on thick paper.

The Function of Tapestries in XIV and XV Centuries

6/8/2017

Tapestry art developed mainly in northern Europe since its main function was to help with the warming of the rooms within the residences of kings and noblemen.

The technique was applied to create ornaments for chairs, bed, and other furnitures aside from the walls decoration. Nowadays the wall tapestries are the only ones preserved in museums.

The habit of transferring the ‘tapestry room’ and sets from one residence to the other was practical but damaged many manufactures. Cut were done to large tapesties to adjust them to the new locations.
Arazzi Room, Capitoline Museum, Rome

The History of Tapestry

6/5/2017

apestry has ancient origins; findings of weaven trheads were foud in ancient egypt and hellenistic greece.

In the odissey is remarked the endless weawing work of Penelope, ulysses wife.
The copto tapestries dating from the first centuries of christianity are considered the finest exemple from the past due to tecnhical skills and complexity.

The technique was introduced back in Europe by the Flemish after the crusade that placed Baldovino di Fiandra on Jerusalem’s throne in the 12th hundred.

COPTO TAPESTRY, Museo Alto Medioevo, Roma

Tapestry Art: An Introduction

6/1/2017

The tapestry is characterized by the simultaneous creation of the fabric together with its decoration.
The tapestry makers pass the colored threads of the plot on the warp threads fixed on the loom.

It is an intermediate workpiece between picture and embroidery. The figures are superimposed on existing tissue in the embroidery.

The name ‘Arazzo’ (cloth of raza) comes from the town of Arraz where the best tapestries were produced in the Middle Ages.

The fourteenth and fifteenth century marked the heyday of the tapestry technique.

Several factories specialized in the production of tapestries in Europe producing artworks for the aristocratic or ecclesiastical patrons.

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This blog is aimed to share with you my Roman experiences, reflections and researches.

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