The Weaver of the Bayeux Tapestry

In 1066, somewhere in England or Normandy, a group of embroiderers began stitching what would become the Bayeux Tapestry — 230 feet of linen depicting the Norman Conquest in extraordinary detail. What astonishes historians is not just its length but its intimacy. Each of the 626 human figures has distinct posture, gesture, and expression. The artists knew their subjects so thoroughly that scholars can identify individual historical figures by their bearing alone, even without the Latin inscriptions.…