Many thanks to Louise for posting this. I watched last night on catch up TV (what a great invention that is!) and I totally agree that the programme was absolutely fascinating. The close ups of the needlework showed the stitching in fantastic detail and it was mind-blowing how many hundreds of hours of work must have gone into making each of the articles that was shown.
I hope that non UK members will be able to enjoy the programme somehow. Jill in cloudy, but warm, Milton Keynes > On 03 October 2013 at 16:26 Louise Bailey <bail...@slb.com> wrote: > > > I apologise first to all the non Uk Arachnes - as unless this is syndicated it > won't be accessible to you, (actually it might be through BBC worldwide / > itunes, but I don't know). > > BBC 4 has just finished had a short run series "Fabric of Britan" .The first > one was on knitting and a bit soft, mainly on fashions trends in the 20th C. > I haven't watched the second one yet on wall paper. But the third, last night, > was really very good. Beautiful focus on stunning early mediaeval church > copes, and a demonstration from the RCN on the stiches involved. They even > pinpointed the date at which the skill declined with the great plague, and > when inferior continental techniques came in. > > I've posted the iplayer link - its available until Sunday. There is a clip > under more info nonUK people might be able to see. > > Here's the blurb > The Reformation in England witnessed the destruction of the most brilliant art > of the medieval age. Church paintings and stained glass - even sculpture - > were destroyed throughout England in the name of religion. And yet one art > survived against the odds - the art of medieval embroidery. > Portable and easily squirrelled away, English embroidery was spirited out of > the country in the 16th century and many brilliant examples survive today - if > slightly unappreciated and forgotten in Italian churches and museums, even the > Vatican. And yet it is an art form that rivalled the very finest in medieval > painting or stained glass and for 200 years was the finest embroidery in the > Western world. Known simply as Opus Anglicanum (English work), the work of > English embroiders was desired by kings and popes throughout Christendom. > Dan Jones, Plantagenet expert and medievalist, goes in search of these fragile > yet stunning survivors from the great age of embroidery - encountering a world > of finery, bejewelled luxury and sacred beauty on an undreamt-of scale. > http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03c2766/Fabric_of_Britain_The_Wonder_of > _Embroidery/ > > Enjoy! > > Louise, > > In slightly drier Cambridge this afternoon, where Autumn and the university > term have definitely arrived - cue the wet weather & traffic jams > > - > To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: > unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to > arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
