Tapestries are a woven wall hanging that depicts a scene or famous painting. Medieval and renaissance tapestries were first developed in Europe to decorate castles and large churches. At first they were primarily of religious scenes and later to depict historical events. Kings and other nobility would hire artists to make a tapestry of historical battles and other events that they were engaged, especially if they won the battle. Castles and large stone churches were drafty places that are hard to keep warm during the winter. In those days, insulation was unheard of for placement in buildings to keep them warm. A great benefit of tapestries was that they tend to keep large stone buildings warmer, acting as insulation. The importance of tapestries was that they were easy to transport from one location to another for display. This was accomplished by rolling them up like a carpet for moving to another location. The ability to roll them up was perfect for medieval and renaissance period kings and other nobility that would take the tapestries with them when they traveled. The ease of transport gained tapestries greater acceptance over large paintings, because paintings were more difficult to move from one place to another. Because of the method of weaving tapestries, they give a different perspective of colors from different angles and lighting conditions. Tapestries became well know works of art all by their selves and are valuable.
During the medieval and renaissance periods tapestries began to be woven of a larger variety of fabrics, such as: wool, silk, cotton, linen, and acrylic. This gave them a greater range in colors, allowing tapestries to become more affordable for others. Along with using new materials other scenes were desired by those purchasing tapestries. These new scenes included hunting expeditions and great feasts of kings and nobility dining with guests. Additionally, other scenes selected were of reincarnations, incarnation, resurrection, and annunciation. The nobility of this period wanted to have the finest representations of their lives. These tapestries evolved again into another type of work that represented every day people in every day situations. These new tapestries were designed in a manner to depict famous people and fictitious people in classic novels of the period. Medieval and renaissance tapestries had become the art form representing European history for future generations to gain knowledge of the past. Many historical events that were written down can be corroborated by tapestries that represent the same event. These works of art have become a historical record in all the luxurious form and are used by historians today.
The evolution of medieval and renaissance tapestries made their mark on the art world, allowing more people to own and have access to great works of art that only a few were able to view before their existence. The historical record would be a little fuzzier today without tapestries. An original tapestry is worth a small fortune today. If you can not afford an original tapestry there are replicas and reproductions that are just as authentic in appearance and would be an investment and addition to any home.
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