Medieval Textiles

Abstract

The decorative and pictorial properties of dress and furnishing textiles, and their power to express group identity, fashion, wealth, status, or piety, were recognized even before the medieval period. As sewing techniques and weaving technology developed, so too more sophisticated expressions became possible. These were often costly in man/woman hours and in materials—whether dyes; imported threads and fabrics; or gold, silver, pearls, and other gems—and so took their place along with painting, sculpture, and fine metalwork as an important medium of expression of the art movements of the time, dominated by the needs of major ecclesiastic and royal/aristocratic institutions and figures. The splendid textiles for which the medieval period is famous were not produced by homeworking amateurs. Most rich textiles for dress, pageantry, or soft furnishing (and most of their cheaper imitations) were made by professionals, and both elaborate patterns and figurative scenes must have been drawn initially by artists or copied from their works. There is evidence both of embroidery professionals and the involvement in design for embroidery by a scribe and painter in England from as early as the Anglo-Saxon period. The ability of both weave and embroidery to use subtle changes of color to emulate modeling and light and shade—and even to a limited degree, to create actual surface modeling—were, not surprisingly, exploited alongside the development of more naturalistic styles in painting and sculpture. In the medieval period as a whole, textiles were as highly regarded as any other artistic medium, not only as decoration but also for their ability to convey both royal symbolism (the grave furnishings from Burgos, Spain; the Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire) and ecclesiastical iconography (individual vestments) as well as major secular narrative. Indeed, the Bayeux Tapestry is the largest surviving non-architectural artwork of the Middle Ages. At times, as in the flourishing of opus anglicanum embroidery, textile art was one of the most visible expressions of art styles of the day. Elaborate textiles are often depicted in artworks in other media, especially manuscript illumination, in the form of dress and soft furnishings. As such they may indicate status and are sometimes, especially the furnishings, decorated with heraldic motifs to exhibit royal or family importance.