[Ravensfort] cool tapestries to examine online

[Marivs]

I got to see these up close and personal on one of my trips to NYC.  Very
cool.  They were used to wrap potatoes on a farm for centuries and suffered
amazingly enough only minor damage.  The bottom corner was lost on one, but
was restored before it was put on display.  Over the years the restored
corner faded and turned from blue to brown while the original dyes still
hold their true colors.  Let's hear it for Medieval technology !!

The Cloisters itself is an incredible place for any SCAer.  It is built from
ruined Medieval monasteries and castles that were bought, disassembled and
shipped from Europe.  The sarcophagus and doorways alone are worth a trip to
the Big Apple.  Not to mention the art work.  Unfortunately the Chalice of
Antioch was taken off display because of the religious fanatics, but the
rest of the museum will more than make up for that disappointment.  Plan on
spending the whole day.

Pax,
Marivs



> From: "jacinth" <jacinth at mail.ev1.net>
> Reply-To: ravensfort at ansteorra.org
> Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 08:34:45 -0500
> To: "Raven's Fort List"  <ravensfort at ansteorra.org>
> Subject: [Ravensfort] cool tapestries to examine online
>
> 10. Explore the Unicorn Tapestries
> http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Unicorn/unicorn_splash.htm
>
> In the Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum, ropes and guards prevent
> visitors from getting too close to the Unicorn Tapestries and possibly
> damaging them. This new Web site provides a chance to jump the rope,
> disregard the guard, and get a really close look at these medieval
> masterpieces. Several sections of the site are primarily designed for close
> examination. A Closer Look allows viewers to magnify any section of any
> tapestry by selecting with the mouse, while Flowers, Plants, and Trees
> and The Birds and the Beasts provide both close-ups and extensive
> information about details of the tapestries. For example, find out that the
> lily woven into the Unicorn in Captivity is a Madonna lily, or Lilium
> candidum, symbolic of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages and able to
> predict if a pregnant woman would bear a boy or girl -- when presented
> with a lily and a rose, a woman who chose the lily would have a boy, and
> the one who chose the rose, a girl. Other sections of the site include
> audio and video of Metropolitan Museum director Phillipe de Montebello
> telling the story of the hunt of the Unicorn, and David Rockefeller relating
> how his father acquired the tapestries and donated them to the Met, as
> well as information on how tapestries are woven, the sport of hunting in
> medieval times, and the Cloisters. [DS]
>
>
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