A big spring cleaning can lead to unexpected discoveries. The Parisian art gallery Charles Ratton & Guy Ladrière had the happy experience. In the spring of 2020, she unearthed in her reserves some thirty fragments of the tapestry of the Apocalypse of Angers, the largest medieval tapestry in the world.
"Despite their incomplete nature, these fragments are of great heritage value
,
"
said the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Pays de la Loire (Drac) on Tuesday in a press release. The gallery, which donated these pieces of tapestry to the State, had contacted the French Ministry of Culture last year,
"after finding with surprise in its reserves fragments which it attributed to the hanging of the 'Apocalypse of'Angers "
, details the press release.
These fragments have since been analyzed by the specialized services of the Drac to confirm their attribution.
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Commissioned in 1373 by Duke Louis I of Anjou (1339-1384), second son of King Jean le Bon of France, and owned by the French State since 1905, this series of tapestries woven during the Hundred Years War illustrates on 104 meters the Apocalypse according to Saint John and is exposed to the castle of Angers (West). Revealing the political context of her time, the forces of Evil are represented there in the guise of the English. The fragments found of this major work from the end of the Middle Ages belong to the
"Great character of the fourth piece of the hanging"
and
"make up a decorative frieze of florets"
, details the Drac, indicating that the patterns are
"very legible and the colors of the weaving threads still well preserved ”
.
According to information transmitted by the gallery, the fragments had been acquired by Charles Ratton in 1924 and
"since that date"
, they had been placed in the gallery's reserve, without being
"the object of any movement before their rediscovery in 2020 ”
. Studies will determine if a restoration is necessary, then these fragments will be
"highlighted at the castle of Angers"
, alongside the other pieces of the hanging, announced the Drac who is scientific responsible for the work.