Gulielmus Pictaviensis (1020–1090)

England was invaded and conquered one time, in 1066. If you know even the slightest bit of that history, your images of the conquest come from one classic source, the Bayeux Tapestry, one 70-meter strip of linen, a meter wide, embroidered ("tapestry" is a misnomer) with hundreds of vivid figures of kings, queens, soldiers, and horses. It tells the story of what led up to the Norman Conquest and how King Harold was defeated by William the Conqueror. There is not much we know for sure about the tapestry and how it came to be made, but that is only a small part of the story in The Bayeux Tapestry. The book does offer a summary of the many different scenes in the tapestry, and presents the best speculations about the sometimes confusing or incomplete story it tells, and about just how the enormous project was brought to its near-completion. Most agree that the tapestry was complete shortly after the events it depicts, but the first mention of it is in an inventory of 1476; it is the tapestry's history after that time to the present that is the fascinating subject of this book.

No one knows for certain who was the sponsor who ordered the tapestry to be made, or who did the making. The pre-1476 history of the tapestry is uncertain, but most of the book covers the wonderful story of how the tapestry has been handled and treated as an object of art and a symbol of varying significance to different beholders. Its first close escape from destruction was in 1562 when, during a Calvinist sacking, vandals destroyed many other artworks within the Bayeux cathedral. During the French Revolution, citizens thought that destroying the past would make for a better future. The tapestry had not been on permanent display in its cathedral (it isn't a religious work) and was kept in a chest in a dark side-chapel, so it escaped the revolutionary destruction inflicted on statues and paintings in the cathedral. In 1793 it escaped the fate of being consigned permanently to the Louvre; it was the sort of thing the new museum was supposed to display, but probably its awkward size and primitive style allowed it to remain in its old home. Napoleon in 1803, however, brought it to the Louvre (albeit temporarily) for its propaganda value. After all, it showed how France had once conquered England, and he thought it was a prediction of what might come to pass again. The tapestry became in its turn an inspiration for Hitler. Those Normans were, to the Nazis, not so French but more Aryan, and the tapestry was a Nordic masterpiece that rightly belonged to the German people, besides reflecting the success of a future invasion of England. Heinrich Himmler appreciated what he described as "the importance which the Bayeux Tapestry holds for our glorious and cultured Germanic history," and determined to have it. Between 1941 and 1945, it was driven in questionable vehicles over open roads on five different occasions, with the Frenchmen who wanted to protect and keep it being aided by battling arms of the German bureaucracy that had conflicting aims of preserving the art and commandeering it. The tapestry was eventually moved back to the Louvre, where in 1944, German General Dietrich von Choltitz was given the task of blowing up Paris before the city was re-taken by the Allies. SS officers even came to him in the final days, insisting that he turn the tapestry over to them so they could take it back to Germany, but since by the time they got to him, he could point to the Louvre as being in the zone of the Allies, the tapestry remained safe.

The tapestry returned to its home, where it has a new hall for its display, and is visited by thousands who also come to see the region of the Normandy landings. They can also go to the shop and buy a tapestry tea towel and mouse mat, but Hicks reminds us that this classic piece of art has had plenty of other modern interpretations. Especially around the anniversary of 1966, advertisers had a jolly time reproducing or parodying it ("Battle of Hastings 1066 / Bottle of Guinness 1966") or even using Latin in their ads. It has been evaluated as a documentary movie, a Norman Newsreel that has been analyzed for its plots and subplots. Political cartoonists have enjoyed depicting Winston Churchill or Mrs. Thatcher in Norman style, and there is even a video game with Norman graphics. The tapestry may have finally settled into a permanent home gallery, but here is its lively story, with reasons to think that it will continue to be influential in the future.… (altro)