Renaissance Tapestry Exhibition

Most people who enjoy tapestries display them on a wall, but many people don’t realize the practical use of tapestries in times past. Tapestries have been around for hundreds of years, even in ancient civilizations, where they not only decorated the royal residence, and were hung around the royal bed for privacy, but were also used for burying the dead.


During the medieval period, churches recognized the powerful impact a Biblical scene would have on a congregation who could neither read nor write. Between that, and the show of grandeur that every European court craved, the tapestry industry thrived. Tapestries became so coveted that they were considered war prizes, and were taken by conquering armies and brought back to their country. This makes it almost impossible to trace the origin of rare tapestries, unless the artist depicted a recognizable scene, city, or siege.

Paris was the first city to open factories for the production of tapestries, most notably the Gobelins factory. During the Hundred Years Was, weavers moved north and into Belgium. My historical novel, The Tapestry Shop, opens in Arras, France, a place so famed for its tapestries that the city name, arras,  is now synonymous with the word tapestry. What I’d give to own one of those ancient tapestries, but of course they are in museums now, the few that exist, and are kept under carefully regulated temperature, light, and humidity.

For those of you within driving distance of Sarasota, Florida, the John Ringling Museum of Art has an exhibition of Renaissance tapestries from a museum in Vienna. The exhibition began in October and runs through Jan. 2, 2011. Here’s the link http://www.ringling.org/Exhibitions2.aspx?id=8490 .

Easter in France begins with Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras), a part of Carnival. Because of France’s strong Catholic tradition, their calendar observes the same days that Catholic churches all over the world do: Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday leading up to Easter.
Most Americans associate Mardi Gras with New Orleans, but the first Carnival was celebrated in Nice, France. Carnival in France lasts for two weeks, with parades, fireworks, and masked balls.
Since the 12th century, all the bells in France are silenced on the Thursday before Good Friday. Most villages and cities in France have at least one church with a bell, like this cathedral in Arras, France. French children all know that the bells have departed for Rome. On Easter, the bells (les cloches de Paques) return, bringing with them Easter eggs and chocolate. The bells drop the treats along the way as they pass through the skies, making their way back to their belfries.
Another tradition, happening around April 1, is Poisson d’Avril. On this day, children make paper fish and stick them on the backs of unsuspecting adults.

Adam de la Halle, the musician on whose life The Tapestry Shop was based, was born in Arras, a city in north-eastern France. Arras flourished during the thirteenth century, and was especially known for its tapestries and banking system. Besides Adam, the town was the birthplace of another musician, Jehan Bodel, and of Robespierre, one of the best-known figures from the French Revolution. During World War I, the town was heavily bombed, but most of the city was reconstructed, only to be bombed again in WWII. The town square, however, survived. Surrounded by 17th century buildings, it is the perfect place to have a steaming cappuccino on a cool morning in April, one of the best times of the year to be in northern France. Besides the lovely weather, the tulips are in bloom, and the tourist crowds are not there yet. If you go, be sure to walk through the underground tunnels that lie beneath the city. During WWI, British soldiers defended Arras, holed up in the tunnels, of which the Germans were unaware. During WWII, French Resistance fighters were executed at the Citadel. Not far from Arras is Vimy Ridge, where craters from bombs can still be seen, along with the memorial to Canadians who lost their lives there.