Executed in greens, browns, blues, and ochers, the tableau is charged with a muscular energy. Repairing the tapestry, and its smaller counterpart that will hang in Leakin Hall, has been the project of private conservator Julia Woodward Dippold, who has worked on them off and on for 18 years. The quality of the weaving is superb. It was like focusing a camera. With each additional slit, as it closed up, this nondescript blob came back to a very distinct hand with fingernails and joints.
Several things deteriorate any old, large tapestry.
Light, humidity, handling, and the stress of hanging fade and soil the colors, tarnish the metal threads employed by the weavers, and cause the tapestry to pull apart. It's not good for a tapestry to hang for a long period of time, but you can't take it down and put it up, take it down and put it up. The handling is as bad if not worse than long-term exhibition. Dippold spent much of her time conserving the structural soundness of the piece. The tapestry was remarkably intact, she says, in part because of the large volume of gold and silver thread that provides support within the weft.