William the Conqueror 1066
The picture above is a bit of the the 42 meter* long metal tapestry, created by Michael A. Linton, over a period of twenty-five years, he says, "in my spare time".
A quote from 1066 -
"This complete re-creation of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Battle of Hastings in 1066, was created out of 1,500,000 pieces of spring steel. The tiny pieces of steel, which have an area approximately 7 square millimetres, are the off-cuts from a patterning disk used on a very large industrial knitting machine."
As originally recreated in a twenty-year span, the tapestry is about half-scale (at 33.8 meters) to the original. In another five years, Michael, working with his daughter Rachael, created what might have been the missing scenes,adding about nine feet in length to his original work.
If I calculate correctly, nine of these bits of spring steel would fit into one square inch, with a tiny bit of space left over. Drawing a square inch, dividing it into thirds both ways (nine parts), I see that one of these bits of spring steel would not quite cover the fingernail on my pinky finger.
The Medieval Mosaic weighs about 230 kilograms.**
When I read the description of how the Mosaic was actually put together, and painted, my amazement reached zenith - could go no farther.
Here are some links to descriptions of the original Bayeux Tapestry. If, like me, you find the history of Medieval times fascinating, these links should please you.
The Bayeux tapestry by Fowke published 1913 - from Internet Archive, free e-book
The Bayeux tapestry by Fowke published 1913 - free ebook from Google
The Bayeux Tapestry - information from The Middle Ages org. in the United Kingdom
The Bayeux Tapestry as copied in England, scene by scene (my favorite)
The world is full of beautiful and amazing people and the things they make. It is a marvel to be able to see so many of them without leaving home.
* 137 feet and 9 and a half inches (rounded)
** 507 pounds
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