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The Empress Kneels Before Saint Martin

ca. 1430
Not on view
This roundel originally formed part of an extensive series illustrating the life of St. Martin which decorated an altar frontal or a set of liturgical vestments. The silk and metallic threads produce a variety of textures and a sense of depth that animate the surface and the narrative. In the first scene St. Martin, on his way home to convert his parents, is assaulted by brigands-an encounter which resulted in the conversion of the attackers. In the other the wife of the emperor Maximian kneels before St. Martin.

Please note that this textile object is exhibited on a rotating basis due to conservation requirements.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Empress Kneels Before Saint Martin
  • Date: ca. 1430
  • Culture: South Netherlandish
  • Medium: Silk and metal thread, and linen
  • Dimensions: Diameter: 6 1/8in. (15.5cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Embroidered
  • Credit Line: The Cloisters Collection, 1947
  • Object Number: 47.101.63
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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Armet, Guillem Margot Flemish, Steel, copper alloy, South Netherlandish, Brussels
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Saint Martin Announcing to His Parents That He Will Become a Christian, Linen plain weave underlaid with linen plain weave and embroidered with silk and gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk in split and stem stitches, laid work, and couching, including or nué, Flemish
Saint Martin Announcing to His Parents That He Will Become a Christian
Flemish
1430–35
The Nativity Polyptych, Rogier van der Weyden Netherlandish, Oil on oak, Netherlandish
The Nativity Polyptych
Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden
ca. 1450–60
Roundel appliquéd to rectangular panel, linen, silk, and gilt metal thread appliquéd to silk cut velvet embroidered with silk and gilt metal thread in padded couching and couching of gilt metal strips., Italian or Spanish
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15th and 17th century
Reliquary Bust of Saint Balbina, Oak, with paint and gilding, and human remains, South Netherlandish
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