Cloth of St Gereon on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Cloth of St
/ref> The Cloth of St Gereon is regarded as the oldest or second oldest known European tapestry still existing, dating to the early 11th century,Anzovin, p. 175 "The first European tapestry still extant is the Cloth of St. Gereon, originally created for the Church of St. Gereon in Cologne, Germany. It is a seven-color wool tapestry depicting medallions with fighting bulls and gryphons. Most scholars date the work to circa 1000, based on its decorative ornaments, which resemble those in illuminated books of the time."
/ref> compared to the
Encyclopædia Britannica Online - Cloth of Saint Gereon
' The name for the tapestry is taken from the place of origin, the St. Gereon's Basilica in Cologne. It was hung in the church choir area. The tapestry was cut into four fragments by the leading German art historian Dr. Franz Bock.H.M.S.O., p. 22 These were then acquired in or around 1875 by four European museums. The fragments of the Cloth of Saint Gereon are located at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Lyon (one almost complete roundel with linking lion mask roundel), the Kunstgewerbe-Museum in Berlin, Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg (two roundels of the main field, a top segment cut) and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (bottom and right border).Hamlyn, p. 15 A large part of the original is now in the museum at Lyon, while smaller parts are at Berlin and Nuremberg. There were several exhibition tours in Paris showing the Lyon museum fragment of the Cloth of St Gereon from 1989 to 1998.
The Cloth of St Gereon
Saint Gereon of Cologne (french: Géréon), who may have been a soldier, was martyred at Cologne by beheading, probably in the early 4th century.
History
According to the Roman Martyrology, "In Cologne in Germany, the Saints Gereon and his compa ...
is a mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...
of a repeat pattern with a decorative motif of a bull being attacked by a griffin, a fantastic creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.Thomson, p. 52 "There is a tendency to attribute the earliest example of Western tapestry to German manufacture. This consists of three fragments now deposited in the Museums of Lyons and Nuremberg, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Discovered by Canon Bock in the old church of Saint Gereon at Cologne, these pieces are of extraordinary interest, and have received intense scrutiny from experts in the textile arts. The pattern is a piece of simple repetition. The chief feature is a circular band enclosing animals—a bull, a griffin, and a bird. The background has a foundation pattern of triangles upon which is placed ornament of Byzantine style. A border encloses the whole, and consists of floriated bands issuing from grotesque masks. The animals show a certain Oriental influence, rather strongly marked; but otherwise the style, especially in the border, is distinctively Western."Tapestry: The Origins/ref> The Cloth of St Gereon is regarded as the oldest or second oldest known European tapestry still existing, dating to the early 11th century,Anzovin, p. 175 "The first European tapestry still extant is the Cloth of St. Gereon, originally created for the Church of St. Gereon in Cologne, Germany. It is a seven-color wool tapestry depicting medallions with fighting bulls and gryphons. Most scholars date the work to circa 1000, based on its decorative ornaments, which resemble those in illuminated books of the time."
/ref> compared to the
Överhogdal tapestries
The Överhogdal tapestries ( sv, Överhogdalstapeten) are a group of extraordinarily well-preserved textiles dating from late Viking Age or early Middle Ages that were discovered in the village of Överhogdal in Härjedalen, Sweden.
Discover ...
, which in 2005 were redated to the same period, or a little later. A number of European museums hold sections of the original cloth, which was cut into fragments in the 19th century.
Description
The seven-color tapestry shows medallions with bulls and griffins in combat. It was probably adapted fromByzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
or Syrian silk textiles. The motifs of the tapestry could also have derived from Sassanian
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
textiles found in Cologne. The addition of oriental themes in the framing reveals a first attempt at variety.
The border design and background are probably the inspiration of Europe, not oriental. They are similar to 11th-century illuminated manuscripts of Cologne and Western Europe. There are no other examples of tapestry similar to this that survive other than the oldest tapestry panel in the cathedral of Halberstadt
Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...
depicting "Abraham and the Archangel Michael", which was probably woven around 1175 A.D.
The size of the Cloth of Saint Gereon fragment at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Lyon is . Museum of Decorative Arts in Lyon] "inventory information" # 22963: fragment; Fragment dit de Saint Gereon de Cologne - textile; Bock Franz The style of design, which is strong in oriental and Byzantine character, is often also found in woven silks of the eleventh century. The colors of the characters now are a faded green, brown, blue and red. The background may have been colored (probably brownish-blue), but this is now undeterminable as it is almost completely faded out. Tapestry historian Hunter says the design is of Byzantine origin, however the weave indicates an occidental maker.
History
Scholars place the area it was made inCologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
in the early part of the 11th century.Encyclopædia Britannica Online - Cloth of Saint Gereon
' The name for the tapestry is taken from the place of origin, the St. Gereon's Basilica in Cologne. It was hung in the church choir area. The tapestry was cut into four fragments by the leading German art historian Dr. Franz Bock.H.M.S.O., p. 22 These were then acquired in or around 1875 by four European museums. The fragments of the Cloth of Saint Gereon are located at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Lyon (one almost complete roundel with linking lion mask roundel), the Kunstgewerbe-Museum in Berlin, Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg (two roundels of the main field, a top segment cut) and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (bottom and right border).Hamlyn, p. 15 A large part of the original is now in the museum at Lyon, while smaller parts are at Berlin and Nuremberg. There were several exhibition tours in Paris showing the Lyon museum fragment of the Cloth of St Gereon from 1989 to 1998.
See also
*Gereon
Saint Gereon of Cologne (french: Géréon), who may have been a soldier, was martyred at Cologne by beheading, probably in the early 4th century.
History
According to the Roman Martyrology, "In Cologne in Germany, the Saints Gereon and his compa ...
* St. Gereon's Basilica, Cologne, Germany
* Saint-Géréon, France
References
Sources
* Anzovin, Steven, ''Famous First Facts'' 2000, item # 3084, H. W. Wilson Company, * Beach, Frederick Converse, ''The Americana: a universal reference library, comprising the arts and sciences, literature, history, biography, geography, commerce, etc., of the world,'' Volume 15 ''Oldest Tapestries'', Scientific American Compiling Dept., 1908 * Guiffrey, Jules, ''Histoire de la tapisserie: depuis le moyen âge jusqu'à nos jours'' (French), A. Mame and son, 1886 * Hamlyn, Paul, ''Tapestries - Mercedes Viale'', Fratelli Fabbri Editori, Milan 1966 * H.M.S.O., Victoria and Albert Museum, ''The tapestry collection: medieval and renaissance'', by George Wingfield Digby, printed by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1980 * Hunter, George Leland, ''Tapestries - their Origin, History and Renaissance, John Lane Company, 1912 * Stanford, Harold Melvin, ''The Standard reference work: for the home, school and library,'' Volume 7, Standard Education Society, 1921 * Thurstan, Violetta, ''A short history of decorative textiles and tapestries'', Pepler & Sewell, 1934 * Viale, Mercedes, ''Tapestries - Cameo Series'', P. Hamlyn, 1969 {{coord missing, Germany Tapestries Medieval textile design Weaving Cattle in art Objects of the Berlin State Museums Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum Collections of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum