The Bayeux Tapestry

Résumé :
Embroidered throughout with needle and coloured woollen yarns, the Bayeux Tapestry relates the story of William, duke of Normandy’s conquest of England in 1066, over a length of almost seventy metres. This remarkably well-preserved medieval masterpiece still holds many mysteries, which are laid out in this book and discussed by two specialists. The Tapestry not only represents a memorable page of history, but is also a rare window on the material realities of the Middle Ages, with its ships and warfare, armour and weapons, as well as the buildings, clothing and food, cooking and carpentry, and domestic animals of everyday life. Through its rich secular and religious iconography, it is a wonderful reflection of the collective imagination of the times. The messages it delivers are universal in their reach. However we regard and interpret this precious work, it continues to delight and fascinate its audience, and will carry on doing so for many years to come.
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