Author Description

The only large-scale 15th-century tapestries in existence, the magnificent Devonshire Hunting Tapestries are a priceless resource. They provide a unique insight into medieval life, depicting a lost chivalric world in rich and fascinating detail. The elaborate rituals of the hunt were an integral part of court etiquette in medieval and Renaissance Europe. These tapestries, once owned by the dukes of Devonshire, provide a vivid picture of the hunt in all its forms, and are also a rich repository of costume and textile history; author Linda Woolley mines them for all that they have to tell us about the fashions and customs of the time. The gorgeous illustrations include many stunning close-up details, with four eight-page color gatefolds showing the great tapestries in their entirety. This much-needed book on one of the Victoria and Albert Museum's greatest treasures opens a window onto the vanished world of the late Middle Ages.