Life — November 4, 1926 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# The Famous Fuie Tapestry Analysis This page reproduces a medieval-style tapestry illustration depicting "The Hunting of the Stag"—a popular courtly subject from the Middle Ages. The satirical article, attributed to Robert Benchley, humorously describes the chaotic scene as if analyzing an actual historical artifact. The joke appears to be Benchley's deadpan, overly-detailed interpretation of the tapestry's busy composition. He identifies various figures (a Dominican friar chiding Lady Rosamond, the King's armor-bearer, the Crown Prince on a "ham"), treating obvious visual absurdities—like Pepin with a drum on his head—as serious historical facts requiring explanation. The satire mocks both medieval tapestry scholarship's tendencies toward overwrought interpretation and the magazine's readers' appreciation of highbrow cultural analysis.