The St. Martin Embroideries

The St. Martin Embroideries: A fifteenth-century series illustrating the life and legend of St. Martin of Tours by Margaret B. Freeman

In the Middle Ages pictorial embroidery was considered one of the fine arts and those who made pictures with needle and thread were often as highly skilled and highly valued as those who made pictures with brush and pigment. Franco-Flemish and Flemish pictorial embroideries of the first half of the fifteenth century are rare today, and a series as extensive and fascinating as the one analyzed here can hardly be equaled. The thirty-seven individual works have been known to scholars and connoisseurs for eighty years or so, and during this time speculation has accumulated as to their origin, purpose and iconography. The present study resolves at least part of the mystery. These embroideries celebrate the life and achievements of one of Christendom's most beloved saints, St. Martin, bishop of Tours.

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