Page 32 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

30  INTRODUCING BEL GIU m a ND LU x E m BOURG

Belgian Tapestry and Lace

For over six centuries, Belgian tapestry and lace have been
highly prized luxury crafts. Originating in Flanders in the
12th century, tapestry has since been handmade in the
centres of Tournai, Brussels, Oudenaarde and mechelen.
The lace trade was prac tised from the 16th century onwards
in all Belgian provinces. Bruges and Brussels in particular
were renowned for their delicate work. The makers of this
finery often had aris tocratic patrons, as grand tapestries and
intricate lace were status symbols of the nobility and staple
exports throughout Europe from the 15th to the 18th Tapestry weavers numbered
over 50,000 in Flanders from
century. Today, Belgium remains home to the very best 1450 to 1550. With the dukes
tapestry and lace studios in the world. of Burgundy as patrons, hang­
ings grew more elaborate.

Tapestry designs involve the
weaver and artist working closely
together. Painters, including
Rubens, produced drawings for sets
of six or more tapestries illustrating
grand themes.

The texture of the weave was the
finest ever achieved – often 5
threads to a cm (12 per inch).
Tapestry
By 1200, the town of Tournai and nearby
Arras (now in France) were known as centres
of weaving across Europe. Prized by the
nobility, tapestries were portable and could
be moved with the court as rulers travelled
over their estates. As trade grew, techniques
were refined. Real gold and silver were
threaded into the fine wool, again increasing
the value. Blending Italian idealism with
Flemish realism, Bernard van Orley (1492–
1542) revolutionized tapestry designs, as in
The Battle of Pavia, the first of a series.
Flemish weavers were eventually lured across
Weavers working today in Mechelen and Tournai Europe, and this transfer of skill led to the
still use medieval techniques to produce contem­ success of the Gobelins factory in Paris that
porary tapestry, woven to modern designs. finally stole Flanders’s crown in the late 1700s.

030-031_EW_Belgium.indd 30 16/10/14 3:33 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Feature template “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v1.3)
Date 18th October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm