(4 of 4)
GREAT TAPESTRIES, edited by Joseph Jobe. 278 pages. Edita, S.A. $22.50. In medieval times, tapestries were functional: they hid the bleak stone expanses of chateau walls, and their woolen thickness helped keep out the cold. But utility can lead to art, and the art of weaving came to its finest flower in the textured murals that are sumptuously spread through these pages with such fidelity that the beholder wants to touch them. The book's first three sections explore the history of tapestry weaving, a history still being written by those—among them Lurçat, at and Miró—who have revived this ancient art. The fourth and last section, by François Tabard, master weaver at Aubusson in France, explains the techniques.