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Bayeux Ship

CAN YOU BAYEAUX??

The famous Bayeaux tapestry, made and housed in a museum in Normany, is actually not a tapestry at all.  It is a masterwork of hand embroidery, over 640 feet in length, about 24 inches high, which tells the story of William the Conqueror’s Norman Invasion of England in the year 1066.  Compellingly beautiful and mysterious, it shows people, animals, battle scenes, castles, trees, and every minute aspect of courtly life in the Eleventh Century.  It was lost for over one hundred years, and then re-surfaced.

Scholars argue about its meaning and historic accuracy, but all agree that it is a stunning piece of art, completely hand embroidered in naturally dyed hand spun woolen yarns, on a linen ground.  The colors, the images, the story, the variety of vignettes make it a wonderful design source for hooking.  

See the original at the Centre Guillaume de Conquerant, Bayeaux, France.  See images online with a Google Image search:  Bayeaux Tapestry.