The Troyes Mémoire: The Making of a Medieval Tapestry

Medieval and Renaissance Clothing and Textiles

by Christine R Kane (Translator)

First English translation of a late fifteenth century manuscript containing instructions for designing a medieval tapestry - the only such to survive.

The "Troyes Mémoire", a late fifteenth-century manuscript preserved in the archives of the town of Troyes, France, is the sole surviving example of the written instructions used in designing tapestries during the Middle Ages. It is unique in its presentation of detailed information on how patrons and church officials communicated complex iconographic material to the medieval artists commissioned to paint cartoons for tapestries. It is here translated intoEnglish for the first time, with full introduction and extensive notes. The volume also includes a translation of another richly informative document from medieval the Account Books of the Church of Sainte-Madeleine, whichintroduces us to the actual people who worked together, between 1416 and 1430, to produce a set of tapestries for the town's oldest church. They shed important new light on an era when tapestry represented a supreme form of art.

Tina Kane is Conservator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Textile Conservation.

220 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 2010

Reviews

[Jane]

Fascinating, academic account.

[Heather Jones]

This is one of those documentary survivals that is valuable in inverse relationship to the commonness of the genre, in giving us insight into the creative process for an object where normally only the finished product is available. The text is a detailed project description for a set of tapestries from the late 15th century intended for the Church of Sainte-Madeleine of Troyes. That is, the description is from that date -- the tapestries evidently were never created. The heart of the book is the original text and translation of highly specific instructions for the contents of the cartoons from which the tapestries would be woven. It specifies not simply the genres of the scenes but all the specific figures, their appearance, even down to the contents of the speech balloons coming from their mouths. This confirms a bridging profession between the commissioning of tapestries on a particular theme and the work of the artists (and then the weavers) who implemented that theme. The book also includes excerpts from the account books of the church addressing various expenses relating to other tapestries owned by the church.