#gerona cathedral

Creation Tapestry, c. 1100. Embroidered in wool and linen on a wool background, 12’ x 15’ 8". Currently in the Gerona Cathedral Treasury in Spain. Source.

“In Gerona, the Creation Tapestry, made with linen thread against a wool background, depicts a beardless Christ as Pantocrator in the center of a compositional wheel, filled with scenes from Genesis, including the Days of Creation, the Creation of Eve, and Adam Naming the Animals. In the corners, symbols of the four winds turn the wheel, suggesting the movement of the days. On three sides, marginal representations of the labors of the months and emblems of the annum and solstices continue to convey the passage of time. Curiously, in the bottom margin, the legend of the Discovery of the True Cross is shown. Although it is not certain where or how the tapestry was originally displayed, its complex iconography reveals a belief in the enduring lordship of Christ from the beginning to the end of Creation.” (Snyder, Art of the Middle Ages, 258)

Click here to see a larger image of the tapestry.