On Mon, 1 May 2006, mischele1 wrote: > This dress is caught in my mind. > Is it allogorical (sp) > http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/ang/pages/page_id18374_u1l2.htm
The short answer: In all six of the tapestries, the Lady's dress carries many elements associated with allegorical and fantasy figures. The skirt slit is the obvious indicator on this one; on others, it's the heavy jeweled hem or the headdress. But also the overall level of decoration. The maid's dress is far closer to real clothing of noblewomen, but occasional has some oddnesses (mostly in headdress). The long answer was the substance of a presentation Verna Rutz and I gave on this topic at the International Medieval Congress quite some years ago. Even if my research hadn't shown me the linkages between the lady's dress and other allegorical/fantasy images, I would have found it out just from doing the reproductions (I made a version of the Lady and one of the Maid, mostly from this very tapestry). Things like layers being in a different order on the sleeves/neckline/hem... easy enough to do in a picture, but no way to do it in real life unless you fake something. If you like this style, I encourage you to look at other secular tapestries from the period. There are a number on hunting, winemaking, and other courtly pursuits that are full of nobles without allegorical significance. Look carefully, though, as often tapestries do tell tales of historical or mythological heroes and heroines, and it can be easy to confuse them. --Robin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
