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What is the central scene in the Bayeux Tapestry?

ANSWER:

The central scene in the Bayeux Tapestry is one of the Battle of Hastings. This event was significant because it began with the dispute over who was the rightful heir to the England throne. Two men named William the Conqueror and Harold Godwinson were the instigators of this battle. Edward the Confessor, the prior king to England, had proclaimed both men to be the next heir. In a town 7 miles away of Hastings, this battle began on October 14, 1066 and ran the course of only a day. William, also known for being the Duke of Normandy, claimed victory in the death of Harold. He became the King 10 weeks later and changed the history by the initiation of his own conquest of the country.

In the Bayeux Tapestry itself. the artwork depicts many different animals, boats, and the interaction of people with this environment. For example, there is a man pulling a horse-like creature by a harness. The men on the boats are working together to situate the sails. It could be said that this scene could be depicting their preparation for the Battle of Hastings.

perhaps donatello’s landmark work – and one of the greatest sculptural works of the early renaissance – was his bronze statue of david.  this work signals the return of the sculpture in the round figure, and because it was the first such work like this in over a thousand years, it is one of the most important works in the history of western art.

david is shown at a triumphal moment within the biblical storyline of his battle with the philistine, goliath.  according to the account, after david struck goliath with the stone from his slingshot, he cut off his head with goliath’s sword.  here, we see the aftermath of this event as david stands in a contemplative pose with one foot atop his enemy’s severed head.  david wears nothing but boots and a shepherd’s hat with laurel leaves on top of it, which may allude to his victory or to his role as a poet and musician.

before donatello’s work, david was typically depicted as a king, given his status in the old testament.  here, however, we have a stark change in the way david is depicted.  not only is he shown in the, but he’s also a youth.  in middle ages, nudity was not used in art except in certain moral contexts, such as the depiction of adam and eve, or the sending of souls off to the underworld.  in the classical world, was often used in a different, majestic context, such as with figures who were gods, heroes, or athletes.  here, donatello seems to be calling to mind the type of heroic nudity of antiquity, since david is depicted at triumphal point in the biblical narrative of his victory over goliath.

as for david’s youthfulness, donatello has gone back to the early life of the biblical david to depict him, rather than to his later life as a king.  it seems that donatello is trying to associate david’s youth with an innocent and virtuous life.  david looks young here – so young, in fact, that his muscles have barely developed enough to hold the large sword – that his victory over his foe is all the more improbable.  could david’s victory have been gained without divine intervention?   donatello’s work seems to imply that the answer is “no” – the victory was god’s rather than man’s.

in any case, donatello’s david is a classic work of renaissance sculpture, given its judaeo-christian subject matter modeled on a classical sculptural type.  it was revolutionary for its day – so much so that it did not get copied right away.  the idea of the life-sized sculpture-in-the-round evidently took some time to sink in and become an acceptable statue type