English and French Fall in Battle, detail of the Bayeux Tapestry. Size: 20 inches high X 231 feet long, Date: c. 1073-1088, Museum: Town Hall, Bayeux.
The embroidery English and French Fall in Battle shows the viewer a scene that was embroidered onto a woven background of the conquest of England by William of Normandy in 1066. It is part of a 72 part episode of scenes, similar to this one. The scene shows us soldiers or Anglo-Saxons, on a hill who were fighting on foot compared to the soldiers of the Norman cavalry who had horses that were attacking the Anglo-Saxons. The embroidery shows us falling soldiers and horses everywhere with the casualties lying on the bottom border. The artist used a great deal of detail, especially with having to sew colored yarn, he had to be very precise. The embroidery shows us different lines between the top border and the bottom border, sort of separating the fighting and war from the death of other fallen soldiers and horses on the bottom with pictures of a bird of some kind on the top border, being separated by angled lines between each object. There are lines of the horses bodies that can be depicted if looked closely enough and also in the Anglo-Saxons bodies as well as other objects on the soldiers body and the weapons used. There is a line that depicts the hill the Anglo-Saxons are standing on. The colors used in this embroider represent some primary and secondary colors, red, green, black and a tan color. The Norman cavalry have circles all around their whole body, maybe representing protective gear whereas the Anglo-Saxons are wearing robe like gowns. Both groups are using axes or long arrow like objects during the battles for weapons. The texture of the embroidery can be felt because of the yarn woven into a background of woven material and the rhythm of the embroidery is similar in a way because of how big it is, the scenes depict a similar contrast to one another, with the same figures and objects in each.
The Bayeux Tapestry shows the viewer a huge magnificent pictorial of scenes embroidered onto this cloth material, of a battle between two opposing forces with William of Normandy trying to conquer England. I think the Bayeux Tapestry shows us how dramatic and influential the violence of the battle really was, many men lost their lives but the King, William of Normandy got what he wanted in taking over England.
In seventy-two scenes, the Bayeux Tapestry presents the Norman justification for the 1066 invasion of England: Harold of England broke his solemn oath of allegiance to Duke William of Normandy.
Title: The Bayeux Tapestry: A 900-Year-Old Latin Cartoon
Author: John D. Anderson
Source: The classical journal, Vol. 81, No. 3( Feb-March, 1986), pp. 253-257.
