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hrjLewis, Michael J., Gale R. Owen-Crocker & Dan Terkla. 2011. The Bayeux Tapestry: New Approaches. Oxbow Books, Oxford. ISBN 978-1-84217-976-5
This is a collection of papers on all manner of BT topics from a conference held in 2008 at the British Museum. Often a collection of this sort is inspired by a new conservation project or a renovated display, but in this case, although past conservation work is covered in some of the papers, the collection was more a case of "Hey, kids, let's put on a conference!"
The topics are various and neither systematic nor comprehensive. This isn't the "Big Book of Everything About the Bayeux Tapestry" but in many ways the ability to focus intensely on very narrow aspects is more valuable. We get both the political context of the tapestry's creation and the modern political uses it has been put to. How it has been displayed and how it has been stored away. Parallel styles of art at its creation and all the many ways the tapestry has been depicted in reproductions. Some of my favorites are focused little thematic gems like the depiction of faces, the depiction of dining scenes, and a case study evaluating the possible "from life" accuracy of the depiction of a particular church door.
The volume includes a black and white reproduction of the entire tapestry, with all the scenes, figures, and motifs labeled with index numbers for convenient common reference. Only about 7 pages have color illustrations and there is no comprehensive color reproduction of the tapestry, but other publications provide that independently and the redundancy would have added significant cost to this already-expensive book.
This is a collection of papers on all manner of BT topics from a conference held in 2008 at the British Museum. Often a collection of this sort is inspired by a new conservation project or a renovated display, but in this case, although past conservation work is covered in some of the papers, the collection was more a case of "Hey, kids, let's put on a conference!"
The topics are various and neither systematic nor comprehensive. This isn't the "Big Book of Everything About the Bayeux Tapestry" but in many ways the ability to focus intensely on very narrow aspects is more valuable. We get both the political context of the tapestry's creation and the modern political uses it has been put to. How it has been displayed and how it has been stored away. Parallel styles of art at its creation and all the many ways the tapestry has been depicted in reproductions. Some of my favorites are focused little thematic gems like the depiction of faces, the depiction of dining scenes, and a case study evaluating the possible "from life" accuracy of the depiction of a particular church door.
The volume includes a black and white reproduction of the entire tapestry, with all the scenes, figures, and motifs labeled with index numbers for convenient common reference. Only about 7 pages have color illustrations and there is no comprehensive color reproduction of the tapestry, but other publications provide that independently and the redundancy would have added significant cost to this already-expensive book.
