Out to lunch today, I was talking about the Bayeux Tapestry, which I saw last week.

I was informed by an elderly gentleman, in no uncertain terms that it's "a load of piffle" (although he didn't put it quite so politely!) calling it a tapestry, because it is an EMBROIDERY. And of course he is absolutely correct; it is a wonderful example of an embroidered wall-hanging.

So why is it known as a tapestry? Any particular reason that anyone knows of?

Hi J,

>So why is it known as a tapestry?

Because the Bayeux Embroidered Wall-Hanging just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Thanks ira, that's the obvious answer out of the way.....

Although had it been known as the Bayeux Broderie (that's French for embroidery ) since it was put on display, no-one would be questioning it now.

Your question sent me to my American College Dictionary, used in undergraduate days back in the dark ages. Tapestry n. 1. a fabric consisting of a warp upon which colord threads are woven by hand to produce a design, often pictorial, and used for wall hangings.... Maybe the distinction is that the Bayeux piece is embroidered instead of woven? By the way isn't it an awesome piece?

colored, not colord, of course

Hi J,

I would guess that since a tapestry would have been much more expensive than an embroidery, it was given the fancier name.

According to my Petit Larousse--

Bayeux (Tapisserie, ou, mieux, Broderie de) Elle represente la conquete de l'Angleterre...

So, le dictionnaire encyclopedique pour tous seems to prefer the term broderie.


And one of the definitions for tapisserie is 'papier que l'on etend (extends, spreads out) sur les murs (walls).' Apparently tapisserie needn't be fabric; it could be paper.

[Oh, and while I'm reading the dictionary, faire tapisserie se dit d'une personne qui assiste a un bal sans y prendre part--be a wallflower!]

Didn't they have something written about that when you saw it? It seems kind of important. I suspect it was also for PR reasons and to make it sound better or more important). I read a French Medieval history website that says it was done "by error" in the 19th century but doesn't go into more details on who started calling it a tapestry and what the error was. I do know that printers and cataloguers, etc., certainly do make errors like that sometimes.

hmm.. I found a French book online on the history of this, written by a historian around the end of the 19th century and published in Bayeux (1885, Laffetay) ... that exact question isn't addressed, but it was referred to as a "broderie" originally in some very old quotes. I think it may have been a guy who didn't know the difference... this books mentions a man who was a member of the Academy of Inscriptions of Belles Lettres first referring to this as a "tapisserie" in some correspondence where he was asking what had happened to it as he was doing some research on Bayeux or something. Also, apparently an English painter was allowed to make a copy of it at the beginning of the 19th century, and his wife apparently cut off a piece and stole it and it ended up in a Kensington museum. When the English returned it to Bayeux, they had written in English on it "piece of Bayeux tapestry". So that could have been it, also, or contributed to it (and some terms become popular in the English-speaking world that didn't originate in the native country). This mentions that a lot of research and work was done on it in the 19th Century, and then it was displayed in public in 1842 (under glass), so that might be when it was labelled as a tapisserie through "error", but this book doesn't say that.

What an interesting question, julia t.

Along those lines, I thought it was so helpful before I entered the building to be prepared. You know, it's the same ol' equation: expectations vs. actual experience equals level of satisfaction. Fortunately, I was informed exactly one hour before entering the building that the Bayeux Tapestry wasn't a tapestry but was instead a sort of embroidered cartoon...a handstitched outline that was easily visible from the pews when the thing was displayed in the cathedral.

Well, thank you all for your replies.

It certainly is an awesome piece Betsy, and k_marie I like the bit about the wallflower! I knew the verb tapisser means to paper (wallpaper presumably, giving one connection). Christina, I was so impressed with your research too. It's interesting that originally it was known as an embroidery; and the reasons given for the change of title are both plausible - snobbery and/or a man who didn't know the difference. I also found it interesting to learn that it was actually embroidered by monks, not the queen's ladies-in-waiting as I had previously thought. And although embroidered in just 8 colours the design/story would stand out very clearly to those sitting in the cathedral.

I would like to have been able to spend longer looking at it - I was fascinated by the borders: every creature seemed to be different,and I would like to study it again in greater detail to check that out. I will do one day.

who knows -- the man who referred to it as a tapisserie in the letter may not have known what it was, as he couldn't see it. I think he was referring to some old documents he had found or even illustrations, so he couldn't have told from them necessarily which it was. It is possible since that wasn't his expertise that he didn't know the difference in a tapestry and embroidery. I didn't think it was exactly snobbery, just that tapestry has more of a concrete meaning to a lot of people and it may have seemed a better term for "advertising" or at least displaying and talking about it. Well, maybe that is snobbery sort of, if your museum doesn't want to advertise -- hey, come see the incredible Bayeux embroidery.

I don't understand your friend's scorn for a remarkable embroidery, though, it's just a different textile form, although perhaps it is more difficult to make a tapestry. It is a lot of work, as I've toured the Gobelins tapestry factory.

In David m. Wilson's book, "The Bayeux Tapestry, it states the 230 feet long extended strip is embroided linen and it ought to have been called the Bayeux Embroidery, but that might suggest it was executed by women.
It probably was but there is no information as to where it was made or who the designer was. English scholors like Mr. Wilson have claimed it for England, and suggests Canter. Another( Wolfgang Grape) says Normandy.

Christina...

Thank you again for your input.

The elderly gentleman (not exactly a friend) was not being scornful about the 'tapestry' itself, just about how it was referred to. And I used the word snobbery because it seemed to me to the best way of putting into one word why they might have used tapestry over embroidery because it sounded better (or fancier as ira put it). Pomposity also came to mind, but I think perhaps I should get a thesaurus!

BTW, although I have posted a blanket thanks with my recent trip report, I did appreciate your advice back in May about A/C versus location in Paris in July. I cancelled my cheap hotel out at Clignancourt and booked Hotel Monge in the 5th instead, and we had a good time. So thanks again!

Who cares? Ain't she pretty? I still remember walking around it with the earphones listening to the stories.

For a fascinating fictional account of the making of the tapestry/embroidery, pick up a copy of The Invention of Truth: A Novel" by Marta Morazzoni. It's a small book but utterly captivating.

This has peaked my interest. In addition to this, I'm still trying to find out why we call the area in front of St Peters in Vatican City: St Peter's Square, when it's so obviously an oval...

They name street corners here (Cambridge/Boston Area) after someone and call it a square.

Good question..we call it "Plaza de San Pedro" in Spanish which is a translation of Piazza. But the only translation for that in English is...Square or Circus...and probably Circus don't sound very well for a religious place