The Invention of Glory, The Invention of Photojournalism
“Do you want a real depiction of a cruel war….?! Then sit down, sheathe the thread and sew without a pause!”. This could be the advice from an editor in chief to his/her colleagues to get a true depiction of a cruel war. This could also be the advice in the XV century when the only way they had to capture the cruelty of a war was in the form of a painting or a tapestry. “The Invention of Glory”, the Pastrana Tapestries exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in DC, proves that photojournalism was created in fact several centuries ago. Considered to be among the finest Gothic tapestries in the world, these masterpieces commemorate the conquest of two strategically located cities in Morocco by the king of Portugal, Afonso V (1432–1481): Arzila and Tanger.
“These works form indeed the antecedent of war photography”, states Miguel Angel Aguilar, President of the Foundation Carlos de Amberes, one of the organizers in charge of their restoration. “It is the first time this artistic format is used to depict war scenes, we can almost imagine the cannons firing away, the military music, the shouts of the war …”. The imagination of the artists, sometimes grotesque, was essential to tell the STORY: “Did they want to look more exotic? Then, they painted monkeys, even if they had never seen one” remarks Aguilar. The funny thing is that they drew Moroccan cities like Ghent because this was in fact the only city they knew, and we can see gables and towers painted behind the walls.
It’s a mystery how the tapestries, made between 1475 and 1480, got to Spain. It is known that they became property of the family of Cardinal Mendoza, defender of Juana la Beltraneja, wife of Alfonso V. The Mendoza family yielded them to the Collegiate of Pastrana in the XVII century, because they didn’t have enough space to hang them in their palace.
Another question that comes to our mind after seeing this exhibition is… How would these artisans portray conflicts such as the one in Afghanistan, the unrest in the Middle East or even the changes after the so-called “Arab Spring”?
The answer: at the National Gallery through January 8, 2012. From DC, the Pastrana Tapestries will travel to the Meadows Museum, Dallas, Texas (Feb 5–May 13, 2012); the San Diego Museum of Art (June 10–Sep 9, 2012); and the Indianapolis Museum of Art (Oct5, 2012–Jan 6, 2013).
