Does that make me look skinny?

In pulling together all the images for this paper I noticed that the subjects depicted in the tapestries looked "skinnier" than in the paintings. Karen Kopp informed me that this is because the tapestries were woven (warp) sideways. When the tapestries were finished, the weight of the (top-to-bottom) weft threads was so much that everything was pulled down a bit. This could be 1.5 to 2 inches. So the subjects in the tapestry did not actually become skinnier, but became a bit longer. 18

The narrower tapestries for the high altar arrangement were also woven sideways. Enlargement of the photos of these tapestries in PhotoShop clearly show the warp threads going horizontal. Maybe this was done, so more people could weave on the piece at the same time.

Below I have added two pairs of examples. The relevant subjects are at the same pixel height, making the width of the tapestries seem narrower. What I actually should have done is to keep the width the same and show how the height of the tapestry had increased. Humm. Maybe next time.

tapestry reversed for easier comparion

tapestry reversed for easier comparion