Please note this lecture, originally scheduled for the 4th of July 2024, had to be changed because of the General Election.

Tapestries were the most expensive wall decorations in the Middle Ages and beyond. Often commissioned in sets, taking years to produce, they graced some of the most significant courts of Europe from the 15th century to the 21st. This lecture will explore the making of tapestries and some landmark sets including those of the House of Burgundy, Pope Leo X and Henry VIII all made by the weavers of Flanders and those of Louis XIV and the current Queen of Denmark made by the weavers of the Gobelins factory in Paris. It will explore the changing approaches and some of the stories translated into tapestry.