Michael Linton's Bayeux Tapestry: 1066 - A Medieval Mosaic and Puzzles
News
Tapestry recreated in steel
News Article Details
- Publication: Christchruch Press
- Author: John Keast in Geraldine
- Date: 10-07-2000
Description
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Michael Linton, the creator of the world's biggest jersey, has recreated the extraordinary Bayeux Tapestry with 1.1 million pieces of spring steel broken off 40,000 patterning discs.
The tapestry depicts the Battle of Hastings and took 18 years of painstaking work.
Mr Linton and wife Gillian run Geraldine's The Giant Jersey knitwear shop.
Between garments Mr Linton has worked on the massive project, and is part way through a twin project of committing the work and the history of the tapestry to computer disk.
Mr Linton has never seen his work, created in 18 giant panels, laid out in full — his house has insufficient room.
Mr Linton began working in the medium with small diamond shapes, worked up into figures in armour and then, after seeing a photo of the original Bayeux Tapestry, held in Bayeux, France, Mr Linton seized on the project.
Mr Linton secured 40,000 old pattern discs from a Timaru factory, and began breaking off the tooth-like edges, which he carefully fitted on to masking tape. In extraordinary detail he began to paint the scenes on in enamel.
He has scanned every detail of the 33m tapestry with the aid of a special jig to create a high and low resolution computer picture.
To that he has added amazing detail of every facet of the battle, even names of soldiers, and complete reference works.
He has also woven in more than 500 fables and more than 250 puzzles.