The Rhetoric of Power in the Bayeux Tapestry [Paperback]

A study of the narrative structure and meaning of the Bayeux Tapestry.In this study, Suzanne Lewis argues that the Bayeux Tapestry is one of the first large-scale visual narratives of the Middle Ages that, moreover, conveys medieval conceptions regarding the pictorialized text. More than a reinterpretation of the historical evidence related to the Tapestry, Lewis's study explores the visual and textual strategies and conventions that has made this work such a powerful statement for audiences over the centuries.In this study, Suzanne Lewis argues that the Bayeux Tapestry is one of the first large-scale visual narratives of the Middle Ages that, moreover, conveys medieval conceptions regarding the pictorialized text. More than a reinterpretation of the historical evidence related to the Tapestry, Lewis's study explores the visual and textual strategies and conventions that has made this work such a powerful statement for audiences over the centuries.In this study, Suzanne Lewis argues that the Bayeux Tapestry is one of the first large-scale visual narratives of the Middle Ages that, moreover, conveys medieval conceptions regarding the pictorialized text. More than a reinterpretation of the historical evidence related to the Tapestry, Lewis' study explores the visual and textual strategies and conventions that have made this work such a powerful statement for audiences over the centuries.Introduction: medieval audience, performance and display; 1. The problematics of genre; 2. Narrative strategies and visible signs; 3. Narrative structures; 4. The Norman Conquest and Odo of Bayeux.