"Tapestry" is derived from the Greek word "tapetion" and pieces of Greek tapestries were found are from the 3rd century B.C. In the Egyptian paintings 3000 B.C. show weavers at work on large looms similar to those used to make rugs. Temporarily this ancient art form died out as a part of Western culture and did not re-emerge until the 8th century. It was the Moors from Spain that reintroduced this wonderful textile art to Europe. From Spain, this industry spread to France and to the Netherlands and both became major centers for the production of European tapestries.
European tapestries of the Medieval and Renaissance periods were created mainly to adorn castles and cathedrals. These hangings were generally large, highly decorative works but they served a practical purpose as well. They could be used to create privacy, insulate drafty areas near windows and doors, even to reconfigure large spaces as temporary walls. The flexible nature of their construction made them easy to transport from place to place or to roll up and store until needed. Tapestries commissioned by the royalty of the time depicted scenes from tournaments, hunts and victorious battles. As one would expect, Biblical themes and scenes were represented in the majority of tapestries for churches and cathedrals. Often a whole set of such tapestries would be created. They provided a powerful visual medium in a time when much of the populace was illiterate.
European tapestry production took place in workshops, which could represent a town or an entire region. The intricate and detailed nature of the tapestries required highly technically skilled weavers who had to serve arduous apprenticeships before becoming master weavers. The tapestry weaver tradition was usually passed down from each generation and, as a result, most workers in a given workshop were related either directly or by marriage. Some tapestry workshops were established by royal decree. In the case of Paris' renowned Manufacture des Gobelins tapestry factory, France's Sun King, Louis XIV, ordered it into being solely to provide his court with tapestries, mainly of his own image.
European tapestry production came into its finest era between the years 1500 and 1750. A weaver in the Middle Ages working on a tapestry could feel free to interpret the working sketch and inject his own sensibilities. In the 16th century, however, all such license had been banished. Tapestry production was a tightly controlled, regimented process. A working sketch, or "cartoon", frequently took the form of an oil painting painted by a master. A prime example of this is the set of ten tapestries known as the Acts of the Apostles, which hang in the Sistine Chapel. The cartoons were painted by Rafael and exactingly copied by the weavers. Few actual paintings can equal the beauty and detail of these tapestries.
European tapestry industry was influenced by the events of the times. A great disturbance of the once center of tapestry production was the Netherlands' war for independence from Spain called the Eighty Years War from 1568 to 1648 disrupted this industry, causing many artists and weavers to flee to other places with greater safty, like Britain, Italy and France. Later on the new workshops were put together by Flemmish immigrants who expanded and improved tapestry manufacture in these countries. Cosimo de' Medici of Florence, Italy followed the lead of Louis XIV and commissioned many fine hangings for display in royal settings.
After the war, the Brussels-based Flemish tapestry industry made a strong comeback and was soon back to creating their renowned textile art. However, they no longer dominated the market. Tapestries of equal quality were now being manufactured in several other centers such as Paris. However, the revolutionary war in France (1789-1799) almost wiped out that country's tapestry production industry. With no king and virtually no aristocracy, the tapestry producers found themselves with few clients. Also, tapestries had become symbols of the hated former regime and targets for destruction. As was customary, many European tapestries had been made with gold and other metals. They were now burned in order to reclaim these materials which then could be used as a medium of exchange, as with gold, or even to make ammunition.
European tapestries enjoyed immense popularity throughout the continent during the first part of the eighteenth century. The production centers in France and the Netherlands remained dominant. However, new workshops were created by royal decree: in Madrid, by Philip V and in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great. The courts of Germany and Italy continued to support their enterprises as well. However, rise of a commercial middle class engendered a market for less costly tapestries. This caused many workshops, like Aubusson in France, to increase production of coarser, hence more affordable, tapestries. Many of these producers attracted less affluent customers by manufacturing slightly altered designs of masters such as Boucher.
Toward the end of the eighteenth century, the trend in interior design turned increasingly toward smaller, more affordable elements such as paneling, drapes, painting, mirrors and furniture. Deemed cumbersome and costly, tapestries began to rapidly decline in popularity. As a result, production at the royal tapestry workshops in Netherlands and France declined sharply. By the end of the eighteenth century, production of traditional European tapestries was teetering on the brink of extinction. In England, a national effort was made to save their tapestry industry, to no avail. As the nineteenth century came to a close, tapestry manufacture had come to almost a complete halt.
With the arrival of the twentieth century and the Industrial Revolution, textile production became highly mechanized. Beginning in the late 1800s, an association of artists and craftsmen in England came together to try to restore the lost craft of tapestry production. The leader of this group (known as the Arts and Crafts movement), William Morris, began a tapestry workshop at Merton Abbey near London. There, the cartoons of Morris, William Crane and Sir Edward Burne-Jones were transformed into tapestries. At almost the same time, French painter Jean Lurat, was playing his own major role in the modern tapestry rebirth. Many famous painters like Picasso, Braque and Mir had already been producing designs to be copied as tapestries. Lurat's mission, however, was to advocate for tapestry weaving as an art form of its own, not simply as a translation of a painting. He revived the ancient alliance between designer and weaver. Lurat helped tapestry production take on the new life it needed to become the vital art form it is today.
European tapestries of the Medieval and Renaissance periods were created mainly to adorn castles and cathedrals. These hangings were generally large, highly decorative works but they served a practical purpose as well. They could be used to create privacy, insulate drafty areas near windows and doors, even to reconfigure large spaces as temporary walls. The flexible nature of their construction made them easy to transport from place to place or to roll up and store until needed. Tapestries commissioned by the royalty of the time depicted scenes from tournaments, hunts and victorious battles. As one would expect, Biblical themes and scenes were represented in the majority of tapestries for churches and cathedrals. Often a whole set of such tapestries would be created. They provided a powerful visual medium in a time when much of the populace was illiterate.
European tapestry production took place in workshops, which could represent a town or an entire region. The intricate and detailed nature of the tapestries required highly technically skilled weavers who had to serve arduous apprenticeships before becoming master weavers. The tapestry weaver tradition was usually passed down from each generation and, as a result, most workers in a given workshop were related either directly or by marriage. Some tapestry workshops were established by royal decree. In the case of Paris' renowned Manufacture des Gobelins tapestry factory, France's Sun King, Louis XIV, ordered it into being solely to provide his court with tapestries, mainly of his own image.
European tapestry production came into its finest era between the years 1500 and 1750. A weaver in the Middle Ages working on a tapestry could feel free to interpret the working sketch and inject his own sensibilities. In the 16th century, however, all such license had been banished. Tapestry production was a tightly controlled, regimented process. A working sketch, or "cartoon", frequently took the form of an oil painting painted by a master. A prime example of this is the set of ten tapestries known as the Acts of the Apostles, which hang in the Sistine Chapel. The cartoons were painted by Rafael and exactingly copied by the weavers. Few actual paintings can equal the beauty and detail of these tapestries.
European tapestry industry was influenced by the events of the times. A great disturbance of the once center of tapestry production was the Netherlands' war for independence from Spain called the Eighty Years War from 1568 to 1648 disrupted this industry, causing many artists and weavers to flee to other places with greater safty, like Britain, Italy and France. Later on the new workshops were put together by Flemmish immigrants who expanded and improved tapestry manufacture in these countries. Cosimo de' Medici of Florence, Italy followed the lead of Louis XIV and commissioned many fine hangings for display in royal settings.
After the war, the Brussels-based Flemish tapestry industry made a strong comeback and was soon back to creating their renowned textile art. However, they no longer dominated the market. Tapestries of equal quality were now being manufactured in several other centers such as Paris. However, the revolutionary war in France (1789-1799) almost wiped out that country's tapestry production industry. With no king and virtually no aristocracy, the tapestry producers found themselves with few clients. Also, tapestries had become symbols of the hated former regime and targets for destruction. As was customary, many European tapestries had been made with gold and other metals. They were now burned in order to reclaim these materials which then could be used as a medium of exchange, as with gold, or even to make ammunition.
European tapestries enjoyed immense popularity throughout the continent during the first part of the eighteenth century. The production centers in France and the Netherlands remained dominant. However, new workshops were created by royal decree: in Madrid, by Philip V and in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great. The courts of Germany and Italy continued to support their enterprises as well. However, rise of a commercial middle class engendered a market for less costly tapestries. This caused many workshops, like Aubusson in France, to increase production of coarser, hence more affordable, tapestries. Many of these producers attracted less affluent customers by manufacturing slightly altered designs of masters such as Boucher.
Toward the end of the eighteenth century, the trend in interior design turned increasingly toward smaller, more affordable elements such as paneling, drapes, painting, mirrors and furniture. Deemed cumbersome and costly, tapestries began to rapidly decline in popularity. As a result, production at the royal tapestry workshops in Netherlands and France declined sharply. By the end of the eighteenth century, production of traditional European tapestries was teetering on the brink of extinction. In England, a national effort was made to save their tapestry industry, to no avail. As the nineteenth century came to a close, tapestry manufacture had come to almost a complete halt.
With the arrival of the twentieth century and the Industrial Revolution, textile production became highly mechanized. Beginning in the late 1800s, an association of artists and craftsmen in England came together to try to restore the lost craft of tapestry production. The leader of this group (known as the Arts and Crafts movement), William Morris, began a tapestry workshop at Merton Abbey near London. There, the cartoons of Morris, William Crane and Sir Edward Burne-Jones were transformed into tapestries. At almost the same time, French painter Jean Lurat, was playing his own major role in the modern tapestry rebirth. Many famous painters like Picasso, Braque and Mir had already been producing designs to be copied as tapestries. Lurat's mission, however, was to advocate for tapestry weaving as an art form of its own, not simply as a translation of a painting. He revived the ancient alliance between designer and weaver. Lurat helped tapestry production take on the new life it needed to become the vital art form it is today.
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European Wall Tapestry bring to you great choices to show off art work in your home. Looking into a lovely wall tapestry is a pleasant way to while away the day.
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