Painted tapestries

 

Tapestries had several roles in medieval society. They were a visible display of the wealth of an individual, as well as being insulation against cold and damp when hung on a wall or over a window.

I have done several tapestries.  My tapestries are painted because I cannot weave or embroider. I have taken canvas, and covered it with a layer of gesso. The application of gesso does several key things:

I use acrylic paint in 8 basic colors, which have are mixed with water and each other to produce the different shades. The colors were red, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, and white.

The first tapestry I painted, titled "Events in Brewing" was inspired by the Nine Heroes Tapestry, which hangs in the Cloisters museum in New York.   This is a very large tapestry (8ft x 5ft)

Thumbnail of brewing tapestry

Thumbnail of Herr Hartmann von Starkman

My second tapestry project is a tapestry a month for a year.  It involves much smaller tapestries with images from the Codex Manesse.  

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