Conservation work has begun on centuries-old tapestries that hang in the Hearst Castle Theater.
At the base of Hearst Castle sits the visitor center which features castle replicas and plaques with historical information for anyone to check out for free. Three tapestries that were also on display there are now being brought back to life.
“There were some large slits that needed to be stabilized,” said Cara O’Brien, Hearst Castle Museum Director.
When plumbing repairs began in the theater in October, the tapestries were taken down and that’s when textile conservator Ann Svenson noticed some damage.
“It really became an emergency to take them down and assess them deeply to put strappings and new lining,” Svenson explained.
The 20x14 foot tapestries were donated by the Hearst Corporation in 1979 and are nearly 500 years old. The conservation work is estimated to cost around $70,000 and is funded by the Foundation at Hearst Castle.
“Ann Svenson, our textile conservator, will put supportive straps, she’ll increase the area to take weight off how it hangs, and they’ll be able to hang for everyone to enjoy in the theater,” O’Brien said.
“Up here in Tempus, he’s got a plaid, his plaid garment has gold bands as part of the plaid pattern,” Svenson described of one of the tapestries.
Svenson began the conservation work back in January, focusing on the most damaged tapestry first. She says the process to take the large tapestries down from the wall was a true collaboration.
“There we all are, we pull one down and bring it into this lab and with a group of people, we roll it and put it to the side and we do the same thing happens to the next and the same thing happens to the next. This table has the other two tapestries, and this is the first one to go. It’s the largest and most damaged,” Svenson said.
O'Brien says having these intricate textiles that contain silk, wool, gold, and silver metallic threads is an amazing part of the historic record.
“These tapestries, these Deeds of Scipio, a series of three — an Approach to Africa, the Conference of Scipio and Hannibal and the Burning of the Numidian Camp — those tell the story of the Punic War, and they were really the first tapestries to depict, very accurately, history,” O’Brien said.
The conservation work on the tapestries is expected to be completed by December.
