The World’s Most Famous Tapestries

Tapestries have been around since the Hellenistic period. Traditional, modern, and famous tapestries are all woven images that have undergone weft-faced weaving and can come in various sizes and fabrics.

Essentially, tapestries are wall hangings that portray significant scenes. However, the term tapestry can likewise be used in combination with different materials to show that a tapestry scene is incorporated into a piece of item such as tapestry chairs, tapestry pillows, and tapestry blankets among others. Tapestries incorporate an array of colored threads and the combination of these threads effectively mix together to show an elaborate interplay of light and color. Aside from the aesthetic worth of famous tapestries, they are also used for insulating cold spaces in castles, churches, and houses. Because they use thick fabric layers to line walls, they can effectively trap heat and aid in dampening the fairly harsh acoustics of enormous stone rooms.

Below is a list of some of the most famous tapestries from the 2nd century BC to the late 1980s.

  1. Sampul Tapestry – a wool wall-hanging discovered around 2nd to 3rd century BC in Sampul, Tarim Basin. It is currently displayed in Urumqi, China’s Xinjiang Museum.
  2. Hestia Tapestry – created around 6th century AD in Egypt, the Hestia tapestry shows the Greek goddess of hearth, Hestia. It is currently displayed in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection in Washington, D.C.
  3. Bayeux Tapestry – created during the 1070s in England, this famous tapestry portrays events that lead up to the Norman Conquest of England which culminated in the Battle of Hastings. This is actually an embroidery, but is also considered a tapestry. It is 230 feet long and is listed in the Memory of the World Register by UNESCO.
  4. Cloth of St. Gereon – dating back to the early 11th century, this tapestry is known as the oldest existing European tapestry. Famous tapestries such as this have a repeat pattern, but with an added motif of a griffin attacking a bull. Several museums in Europe display sections of the original tapestry cloth, which were cut into portions around the 19th century.
  5. Apocalypse tapestry – created from 1371 to 1382, this famous tapestry shows various scenes from the Book of Revelation and is the world’s longest tapestry. It was originally 459 feet long, but only around 328 feet still exists today. It is currently on display at Chateau d’Angers.
  6. La Dame a la Licorne/ The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestry – rediscovered during 1841, this tapestry is considered as one of the most famous art pieces from the Middle Ages. This six-cycle tapestry represents one of the five senses and love. It is displayed in the l’Hotel de Cluny in Paris, France. Like some famous tapestries, it is made in the ‘thousand flowers’ or ‘mille-fleurs’ style.
  7. Devonshire Hunting Tapestries – these four, Flemish tapestries date back to the mid 15th century and shows men and women dressed in fashionable attire while hunting. Originally belonging to the Duke of Devonshire, these famous tapestries are now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
  8. The Hunt of the Unicorn – a stunning seven-piece tapestry dating back to 1495-1505. Believed to be made in Southern Netherlands, it is presently displayed at The Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
  9. Sistine Chapel Tapestries – these famous tapestries were commissioned by the Sistine Chapel and designed by the renowned Renaissance artist Raphael in 1515 to 1516. These are based on the Raphael Cartoons.
  10. Wawel Tapestries – this set of 134 famous tapestries were made in Arras during the mid 16th century. They portray a wide array of royal, religious, and natural themes and were personal properties of the Polish kings Sigismund II Augustus and Sigismund I The Old. These are currently housed in the Wawel Castle in Krakow, Poland.
  11. Valois Tapestries – a set of eight tapestries made around the 1560s to 70s. These show royal celebrations in France. They are currently housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
  12. The New World Tapestry – like the Bayeux Tapestry, this is embroidery that is also considered as a tapestry. It is 267 feet wide and shows the English’ attempts at colonizing North America, Bermuda, Newfoundland, and the Guyanas around 1583 to 1642. It is housed in the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum.
  13. Flanders Tapestry – considered as one of the largest Flanders Tapestry collection with Spanish tapestries designed by artists like Goya, and with over 8000 meters from Flanders. These famous tapestries are displayed in several historic places and the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso.
  14. Les Amusements Champetres/ The Pastoral Amusements – designed by Jean Baptiste Oudry, this a set of eight Beauvais Tapestries were created between 1720 to 30.
  15. San Graal/ The Holy Grail Tapestries – William Knox D’Arcy by Morris & Co. commissioned this collection of six tapestries showing scenes from the Holy Grail quest by King Arthur.
  16. Christ in Glory – made in 1962 and designed by Graham Sutherland for the Coventry Cathedral in England, this tapestry was considered the biggest vertical tapestry until the 90s.
  17. The Quaker Tapestry – done in crewel embroidery, this modern tapestry depicts Quakerism from the 17th century up until today. Over 4,000 women, children, and men from 15 countries worked on it between 1981 to 89. It was made utilizing four common and historic stitches, with the addition of the new Quaker stitch by Anne Wynn-Wilson for making tighter curves on letters. It is housed in the Cumbria, England at the Friends Meeting House.

Tapestries have experienced a renaissance in the 21st century because they can be used as dramatic alternatives to common wall décor selections. Presently, tapestries come in a multitude of themes, traditional and more modern designs, as well as recreations of the most famous tapestries.