Editing Tapestry (section)

==Early history==
[[File:Wandteppiche von Överhogdal - 2.jpg|thumb|The five [[Överhogdal tapestries]]]]

===Ancient===
Much is unclear about the early history of tapestry, as actual survivals are very rare, and literary mentions in Greek, Roman and other literature almost never give enough detail to establish that a tapestry technique is being described.  From ancient Egypt, tapestry weave pieces using [[linen]] were found in the tombs of both [[Thutmose IV]] (d. 1391 or 1388 BC) and [[Tutankhamen]] (c. 1323 BC), the latter a glove and a robe.<ref>Britannica, [https://www.britannica.com/art/tapestry/Periods-and-centres-of-activity#ref73786 "Tapestry"]</ref>

Pieces in wool, given a wide range of dates around two millennia ago, have been found in a cemetery at Sanpul (Shampula) and other sites near [[Khotan]] in the [[Tarim Basin]].  They appear to have been made in a variety of places, including the [[Hellenistic world]].<ref>Sheng, Angela, in ''A Companion to Textile Culture'', ed. Jennifer Harris, 2020, John Wiley & Sons, {{ISBN|1118768906}}, 9781118768907118, [https://books.google.com/books?id=lJb0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 google books]</ref>  The largest fragments, known as the [[Sampul tapestry]] and probably Hellenistic in origin, apparently came from a large wall-hanging, but had been reused to make a pair of trousers.

===Early and High medieval===

The [[Hestia Tapestry]] from [[Byzantine Egypt]] around 500–550, is a largely intact wool piece with many figures around the enthroned goddess [[Hestia]], who is named in Greek letters. It is 114 x 136.5&nbsp;cm (44.9 x 53.7 inches) with a rounded top, and was presumably hung in a home, showing the persistence of Greco-Roman paganism at this late date.  The [[Cleveland Museum of Art]] has a comparable enthroned [[Virgin Mary]] of similar date.<ref>[[:File:Mother of God (portrayed as a Byzantine empress).jpg|Image]]</ref>  Many of the small borders and patches with images with which the early Byzantine world liked to decorate their clothing were in tapestry.

A number of survivals from around the year 1000 show the development of a [[frieze]] shape, of a large long tapestry that is relatively short in height.  These were apparently designed to hang around a hall or church, probably rather high; surviving examples have nearly all been preserved in churches, but may originally have been secular. The Cloth of [[Saint Gereon]], from around 1000, has a repeat pattern centred on medallions with a motif of a bull being attacked by a [[griffin]], taken from [[Byzantine silk]] (or its Persian equivalent) but probably woven locally in the [[Rhineland]].<ref>Osborne, 756</ref>  It survived in [[St. Gereon's Basilica, Cologne]], Germany, but is fragmentarily distributed across several museum collections today (see: [[St. Gereon's Basilica, Cologne#Cloth of Saint Gereon|Cloth of Saint Gereon]]).<ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O258448/tapestry-border-unknown/ Tapestry Border], collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London</ref>

[[File:Odo bayeux tapestry.png|thumb|left|A scene from the [[Bayeux Tapestry]] depicting [[Odo, Bishop of Bayeux]], rallying Duke [[William the Conqueror|William's]] troops during the [[Battle of Hastings]] in 1066]]

The five strips of [[Överhogdal tapestries]], from Sweden and dated to within 70 years of 1100, have designs in which animals greatly outnumber human figures, and have been given various interpretations.  One strip has geometrical motifs.  The [[Skog tapestry]], also from Sweden but probably early 14th-century, is comparable in style.

The most famous frieze hanging is the [[Bayeux Tapestry]], actually an embroidery, which is 68.38 metres long and 0.5 metres wide ({{convert|68.38|x|0.5|m|ft|disp=output only}}) and would have been even longer originally.  This was made in England, probably in the 1070s, and the narrative of the [[Norman Conquest]] of England in 1066 is very clear, explained by [[Bayeux Tapestry tituli|tituli in Latin]].  This may have been an Anglo-Saxon genre, as the ''[[Liber Eliensis]]'' records that the widow of the Anglo-Saxon commander [[Byrhtnoth]] gave [[Ely Cathedral|Ely Abbey]] a tapestry or hanging celebrating his deeds, presumably in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry, the only surviving example of such a work. This was given immediately after his death in 991 at the [[Battle of Maldon]], so had probably been hanging in his home previously.<ref>Dodwell, C. R.; ''Anglo-Saxon Art, A New Perspective'', pp. 134–136, 1982, Manchester UP, {{ISBN|0-7190-0926-X}}</ref>

A group with narrative religious scenes in a clearly [[Romanesque art|Romanesque style]] that relates to Rhineland [[illuminated manuscript]]s of the same period was made for [[Halberstadt Cathedral]] in Germany around 1200, and shaped differently to fit specific spaces.  These may well have been made by nuns, or the [[Canoness#Secular canoness|secular canonesses]] of nearby [[Quedlinburg Abbey]].<ref>Britannica; Osborne, 756</ref>

In this period repeated decorative motifs, increasingly often heraldic, and comparable to the styles of imported luxury fabrics such as [[Byzantine silk]], seem to have been the common designs.  Of the tapestries mentioned above, the Cloth of St Gereon best represents this style.<ref>Campbell and Ainsworth, 14</ref>