Students in University of Wisconsin Oshkosh art historian Susan Maxwell’s spring Art 308 course are getting up close and personal with Viking art.
The exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry replica at UW Oshkosh March 25 to April 1 affords students the opportunity to study this important work in person.
“In order to study medieval art, we typically have to drive at least 1.5 hours to see a collection,” Maxwell said. “It’s really great that this unique tapestry will be right here on campus.”
The tapestry will be the focal point of Maxwell’s Art in the Age of Vikings course, which covers art produced in Anglo-Saxon, Irish, Scandinavian, Carolingian and Ottonian traditions from the 5th to the 11th centuries. The students will examine jewelry, weapons and armor; carvings in ivory, wood and stone; illuminated manuscripts; and textiles, such as the Bayeux Tapestry.
The 230-foot long, 18-inch high replica of the tapestry depicts the events of 1066 leading up to the Norman conquest of England. The replica consists of 50 panels of linen with acrylic paint to match the original tapestry’s embroidered scenes of shipbuilding and battles.
“It’s historically important because the conquest is Britain’s 1776 … it’s a huge historical event documented in a work of art that tells the story like a newsreel,” Maxwell explained. “It’s very exciting that the students will see it in person, encounter it and get a real sense for its size and scope.”
The original tapestry was likely created by women who collaborated on the needlework in a style that at first seems primitive. However, Maxwell said the narrative is depicted in such a “flat and linear fashion” in order to focus on the action or storytelling of the work.
An interest in textiles prompted senior Joann Mariahazy, a nontraditional student from Menasha who also works in the College of Education and Human Services’ field experience office, to take Maxwell’s class.
“I am interested in this piece of art because it tells a very long, very meaningful narrative,” she said. “Not only am I going to be seeing the Bayeux Tapestry replica in person, but I am also on the Tapestry Team, which will be moving the tapestry from location to location on campus.”
For Maxwell’s class, the students will be creating their own “illuminated manuscripts,” in which text is supplemented with images or illustrations. In addition, they will serve as Bayeux Tapestry docents, leading tours of participants coming to campus for High School Art Day.
UWO students will work in pairs to escort the high school students in groups of 10 to view the tapestry. “My students will learn aspects of working in a museum and experience what it is like to be a docent,” she said.
Maxwell, who serves as chair of UWO’s art department, will present “Material Culture in 1066: Art and History in the Bayeux Tapestry,” from 9:40 to 11:10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 29 in Dempsey Hall, Room 314.
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