Stole with the Martyrdom of St. Catherine
This embroidery traces the legend of the martyrdom of Saint Catherine. On the left, Catherine debates the merits of Christianity with the pagan emperor, Maxentius, and at the center she is tortured on his wheel of fortune. On the right, the wheel is shown destroyed; two dead pagans lie beneath it while the emperor, standing, holds the limp body of the saint, who has miraculously survived. The story probably continued on another row of embroidery below the cut lower edge of this piece.
Artwork Details
- Title: Stole with the Martyrdom of St. Catherine
- Date: ca. 1200
- Geography: Made in Rhineland, Germany
- Culture: German
- Medium: Silk with linen underlay
- Dimensions: Overall: 7 3/4 x 19 1/4in. (19.7 x 48.9cm)
- Classification: Textiles-Embroidered
- Credit Line: Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
- Object Number: 64.101.1382
- Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters
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