The Bayeux Tapestry Inspires
Would you like to see the Bayeux Tapestry?”
I
was staying a few days with friends in Normandy. It was early spring,
the weather was cold and clear, and they were keen to take me for a
drive in the jazzy little convertible they'd leased for the summer. To
my ear, the name Bayeux conjured up images of a treasure of limitless
fascination, something nevertheless about which I knew very little. I
had never thought about where the tapestry was housed, and had no idea
that the town of Bayeux was in this area, just a short drive away. Of
course I said yes -- “yes please!”
We
wrapped up in scarves and berets, and away we went. They were staying
in a rural village on top of a hill. The “roads” around here are
virtually country lanes and it is not unusual to turn a bend, shrouded
in overhanging trees, and come face to face with a “local” on
horseback, enjoying a quiet break away from Paris.
At
one stage, the wind in our hair and cares left far behind, the car
doing what sporty cars do best, we happened suddenly upon a fairly
serious intersection. My friend braked and we threw up a cloud of dust,
slowing nicely just in time. A couple of gendarmes, slim and elegant in
their uniforms, until this moment deep in Gallic conversation by the
side of the road in the middle of nowhere, jumped to attention. We
heard a shrill sharp whistle, and saw one of them walking towards our
car, gesticulating as he explained in clipped tones that we had, in
fact, approached the corner with far too much vitesse. I made an
instant decision to look straight ahead and leave the matter to my
friend, who rose to the occasion, stammered a few French words,
repeated vitesse followed by a distinctly French question mark and an
appealing flutter of her beautiful eyes. There was a moment of silence,
then with a wave of his hand we were dismissed, suitably subdued, and
on the road to Bayeux.
There
is something distinctly different about the atmosphere of coastal areas
-- they often seem to embody the spirit of holiday, and that is just as
true here on the coastal roads of Normandy as it is anywhere else
despite the grey and often chilly weather.
We
drove into the beautiful little town of Bayeux, and the building that
drew my attention and seemed to overshadow everything else, was the
Cathedral, which I went to visit first. I learned that it was
consecrated in 1077, by Bishop Odo, and that the tapestry belonged here
until about 1800. However the tapestry is now housed in the new
specially designed Centre Guillaume le Conquerant, a short and
well-signposted walk down a curving road, past kiosks fluttering with
flags and memorabilia, from the cathedral.
The
“tapestry” is not really a tapestry at all, rather a length of fabric
about 70 metres long, embroidered along the full length with imagery
and text recounting the Battle of Hastings, and the ultimate conquest
of the English by the Norman Guillaume le Conquerant (William the
Conqueror). There is some dispute about its origins, some believe it
was commissioned specifically for the Cathedral of Bayeux by Bishop
Odo, and some believe, by its style, that it was sewn in England. It is
believed to have been produced somewhere within about 10 years of the
Battle of Hastings which took place in October 1066.
I
was happy to leave that subject to the experts and simply enjoy this
feast first-hand. The room housing the tapestry is large and, in my
memory, dark, lightened along the glass case housing the cloth. We had
audiotapes, which were interesting and recounted the background story
“frame by frame,” always leaning towards the Conquerant as hero. As is
the case with many of these treasures that have been the subject of
schoolday study, I had to keep reminding myself that this was the real
thing, and that I was here in Bayeux, and close enough to touch it.
(For safe-keeping from fingers like mine, it is kept behind glass.)
Except
for a couple of small places, the tapestry is complete and in just
about pristine condition. The woolen threads seem to have lost none of
their colour over the years, and I found myself imagining the person(s)
whose patient needlework had produced such a beautiful “document” of
its times, complete with little marginal “asides,” notes and decorative
touches relating to the body of the story. It is so interesting to walk
its length, following the story -- and sub-stories -- of the Battle of
Hastings. History never seemed so interesting, when it was read and
studied from a text-book. Having followed the tapestry and the audio to
the end, we wandered out into the souvenir shop, typically and
“conveniently” placed between the tapestry hall and the exit.
However,
this souvenir shop proved to be a treasure house of beautiful books, in
many languages, making a sensible choice difficult, ultimately adding a
fair bit of weight to the take-home baggage.
This
visit had been suggested lightly, somewhere to go on a free afternoon.
My friends had no idea that their gesture would become the high point
of my trip. The Bayeux Tapestry became the spring-board for a whole
body of paintings, which were exhibited as my next solo exhibition in
Sydney, the catalyst that I needed to start painting again after a
year-long break.
Copyright (c) Kay Singleton Keller.
