Latest news with #medievalart
Fox News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Famous medieval masterpiece to appear at top museum in celebration of 'shared history'
For the first time in nearly 1,000 years, the legendary medieval tapestry depicting the Norman Conquest will be shown in the United Kingdom — a unique opportunity for anyone planning to travel there in the near future. The temporary loan of the Bayeux Tapestry was announced while French President Emmanuel Macron was visiting the United Kingdom earlier this week. The tapestry will be on display at one of the top museums in the world — the British Museum in London — from Sept. 2026 to July 2027. Measuring some 230 feet long, the tapestry is one of the world's most famous medieval artworks. The piece of art vividly depicts the events surrounding the Norman Conquest, with an emphasis on the Battle of Hastings. The conquest took place in 1066, when Normans invaded the British Isles from France and seized power from the Anglo-Saxons. The tapestry was likely created in the 1070s, a few years after the 1066 conquest. Historians believe that Bishop Odo of Bayeux commissioned the art, which was likely produced in England before being brought to France. The Bayeux Museum in Normandy indicates that the intricate tapestry features 626 characters, 37 buildings, 41 ships and 202 horses and mules. "This loan is a symbol of our shared history with our friends in France." "To make it easier to recognize the characters, the artist added distinctive features such as mustaches and long hair for the Anglo-Saxons and short hair for the Normans," the museum noted on its website. In a statement, British culture secretary Lisa Nandy called the tapestry "one of the most iconic pieces of art ever produced in the U.K." "I am delighted that we will be able to welcome it here in 2026," the official stated. Nandy added, "This loan is a symbol of our shared history with our friends in France, a relationship built over centuries and one that continues to endure." As part of the cultural exchange, the British Museum is lending artifacts from its Sutton Hoo collection, which were found in a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon ship burial. The objects will be displayed at various French museums. The Bayeux Tapestry has been the subject of extensive study since its rediscovery in the 18th century. This winter, researchers in the United Kingdom recently discovered the long-lost residence of a legendary king who was depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. The residence of Harold Godwinson, also known as King Harold II, was identified in Bosham, a village on the coast of West Sussex, England.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘History's most devastating document of war': the simple yet graphic details of the Bayeux tapestry
'Angli et Franci' – these Latin words embroidered on the Bayeux tapestry may be the first time those cartoon rivals, the English and the French, were named together. But in one of the shifts from triumph to horror that make this epic work of art still gripping almost a millennium after it was made, the full sentence reads: 'Here at the same time the English and French [or Angles and Franks] fell in battle'. Below the black lettering, horses and chainmailed riders are thrown about and upside down in a bloody tangle. In the lower margin lie corpses and a severed head. Now, in an unprecedented piece of cultural diplomacy between the Angli and Franci, this 70-metre long Romanesque wonder, preserved for centuries in Bayeux, Normandy, is to go on show at the British Museum. In exchange, Sutton Hoo treasures and the Lewis chessmen will go to France. When it opens in September 2026 this will surely be one of the British Museum's most popular shows ever – for every British schoolchild learns this is not just a work of art, but a document of our history and who we are. It will not disappoint. This is the most engaging depiction ever made of a mighty battle. Beside it, Rome's Dacian wars on Trajan's column or the Louvre's paintings of Napoleon's campaigns are cold. Imagine if Ridley Scott in his prime had made a film about the Battle of Hastings with severed body parts flying towards the screen as the Normans unleash hell: it still wouldn't be as thrilling as the gut-punch of the Bayeux tapestry. These deceptively simple, hand-stitched drawings pull you into a narrative of friendship and betrayal, vengeance and despair, unlocking unfiltered feelings and showing you war as both glorious exploit and futile carnage. One possible reason the Bayeux tapestry sees war so clearly is that it was made by women. Commissioned, it's believed, by Odo, bishop of Bayeux and William the Conqueror's half-brother, the work was probably done in Canterbury by Anglo-Saxon noblewomen. When they embroidered a scene in which a woman and child flee a house torched by Norman warriors, it surely reflects a female experience of war. Yet it is not pacifist, or pro-Saxon. It tells the story of the Norman conquest from the Norman point of view. The Normans had been Vikings a couple of generations back, but by the 1060s they were part of a new European civilisation built on feudalism and chivalry. The tapestry takes you into their world, in which the most important thing you can do is make an oath before God – and the worst is to break it. That is what the Saxon noble Harold Godwinson is shown to do. In the first scene he's pally with the childless English King Edward, whom he hopes to succeed. Then he rides, moustache flying, to his manor, where he prays and banquets before starting a French trip. His ships are blown off course, he's held hostage but rescued by William of Normandy. They become battle brothers, attacking castles together. But not equals. In a scene fraught with passion, Harold stretches out his arms to touch holy relics as he swears loyalty to William. He swore! On relics! So when William hears that in spite of this ritual of subjection, Harold sits on the English throne, he doesn't hesitate. Ships are built, loaded with weapons and wine. The Normans come for Harold. The world here is boldly delineated, sharply lived. These people are so impulsive they don't worry about contradictions. Bishop Odo blesses the feast, as you'd expect. Then he is seen at the heart of battle. When it's looking like a slaughter with no winners, it is Bishop Odo who rallies the Normans. Suddenly it all goes their way. The technically advanced Normans control their horses with the new-fangled stirrup – they can ride and wield javelins at the same time. The Saxon shield wall shatters, the last survivors driven into small bands to be picked off. Harold is hit by that famous arrow, a straight black line sliding in under his helmet. 'Harold Rex interfectus est,' King Harold is killed. When the battle's lost and won, Britain is a different place. We don't see what came next, the castles, the harrying of the north, the Domesday Book – but all that, and Britain's entire future, is implied. William's steely knights become the architects of a new kind of national state. Sign up to Art Weekly Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions after newsletter promotion The tapestry makes it a human story. William starts out as a generous noble saving his friend Harold. Anger turns him into something colder: his vengeance has a monstrous finality. Not just Harold but the Anglo-Saxon age has to die, all because of a broken oath and a failed bromance. 'Men, eh,' you can hear the women whisper as they create our history's most beguiling, devastating document. Numbers in brackets can be found on this visual guide. (23) In an emotional rite, Harold reaches wide to touch relics as he swears fealty to William as his overlord. William sits enthroned, commanding him. It's like a scene from Shakespeare. (38) You can see how recently the Normans were Vikings as William's war fleet sails. These longships look like Norse ships that survive at Roskilde, Denmark, as the historian Marc Morris has observed. The artistry is ravishing; each ship and sail is embroidered in coloured stripes. The beasts below are just for fun. (47) This scene is where the tale of chivalry turns brutally honest. For no apparent reason, the Normans burn a house as a woman and child get out just in time. The mother speaks to them as if asking: why? (51) Look, they're riding with no hands! In a river of steel, the Norman cavalry charge into action, a disciplined, irresistible force, their feet in hi-tech stirrups that let them concentrate on levelling their spears and using their shields. Even so, the fighting will become a bloody mess. (57) And it's all over. Harold stands among his last band of vassals, his hand on the arrow that has hit him in the eye or head. You feel his shock, trying in his final moment to remove the lethal shaft or just grabbing it in disbelief. At his feet, the dead are being stripped of their precious chainmail.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
The Bayeux Tapestry will be displayed in the UK for the first time in nearly 1,000 years
LONDON — The Bayeux Tapestry, the 11th-century artwork depicting the conquest of England, will be displayed in the U.K. for the first time in almost 1,000 years. Officials said Tuesday that the treasured medieval tapestry will be on loan from France and arrive next year at the British Museum, where it will star in a blockbuster exhibition from September 2026 to July 2027.
BBC News
02-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Medieval stained glass returns to Dronfield Parish Church after restoration
Some of the "finest examples" of medieval stained glass windows have been restored to their former glory and are being reinstalled at a church in three windows, belonging to St John's Parish Church in Dronfield, were removed and taken to Somerset for restoration. The windows, which are said to date back to the 13th Century, were partly conserved in the 1970s and 1980s when they were covered with perspex but they suffered "major pigment loss".Project co-ordinator Sue Murphy said the stain glass was a "vital part" of Dronfield's rich heritage and history. The new conservation process has seen the perspex removed and the windows' original colour £179,541 project has been funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and has also included research into the church's history, the production of new interpretative materials, and the creation of volunteering opportunities for Dronfield Murphy said: "It's incredibly exciting to see this next phase begin. "These windows are not only stunning works of art – they are a vital part of our town's heritage. "After months of careful conservation, seeing them return home is a proud moment for everyone involved."
