painting
Painting of St. Martin of Tours
St Martin and the Beggar
Object number
LDSAL501
Artist/Designer/Maker
Unknown artist
Production date
c. 1440
Material
linen (textile)
distemper
Oil Paint
distemper
Oil Paint
Dimensions
height: 430mm
width: 285mm
width: 285mm
Content description
St Martin is shown standing on a plinth, dressed in a belted green tunic and a matching cloak with a pale lining. Seen in the act of cutting the cloak he is wearing, the saint offers part of it to the beggar at his feet.
References
Reference (free text)
David Gaimster, Sarah McCarthy, and Bernard Nurse, eds., Making History, Antiquaries in Britain, 1707-2007 (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2007), p. 79, no. 46.Illustration, p. 79.
Distemper or oil on linen painting depicting St Martin and the Beggar. The saint is shown standing on a plinth with sword in one hand and section of cloak in the other; the composition is repeated within the same outline on both sides of the banner, creating a mirror-image; one one side St Martin is shown wearing a green hat and on the other a blue hat.
This painted cloth is a rare example of medieval British art. It is likely the earliest piece of English painted cloth of its size to survive, and a unique example from England of a double-sided painting on linen.
The most famous of the legends associated with St Martin is depicted on this banner. A Christian soldier with the Roman army in fourth-century Gaul, Martin is said to have divided his cloak with a stroke of his sword and given half to a beggar.
In the Society's banner, St Martin stands on a plinth, dressed in a belted green tunic and a matching cloak with a pale lining. Seen in the act of cutting the cloak he is wearing, the saint offers part of it to the diminutive beggar at his feet. The composition is repeated within the same outline on both sides of the banner. The style of the composition: the use of thick firm outlines; the wide-eyed, childlike features; and pleated doublets, relates to the work of English artists active in the 1430s and 1440s.
The rarity of late medieval painted cloth, inherently fragile and perishable, belies the great quantity in which it was produced. Cloth painting was once a common technique, employed not only in the production of banners and awnings, but also for domestic wall- coverings. As a less costly alternative to tapestry hangings, painted or stained cloth was often the wall decoration of choice for moderately affluent families in England and continental Europe from the fourteenth to the late seventeenth century. Painting on cloth was also an alternative to panel painting, for both portraits and devotional subjects.
The most famous of the legends associated with St Martin is depicted on this banner. A Christian soldier with the Roman army in fourth-century Gaul, Martin is said to have divided his cloak with a stroke of his sword and given half to a beggar.
In the Society's banner, St Martin stands on a plinth, dressed in a belted green tunic and a matching cloak with a pale lining. Seen in the act of cutting the cloak he is wearing, the saint offers part of it to the diminutive beggar at his feet. The composition is repeated within the same outline on both sides of the banner. The style of the composition: the use of thick firm outlines; the wide-eyed, childlike features; and pleated doublets, relates to the work of English artists active in the 1430s and 1440s.
The rarity of late medieval painted cloth, inherently fragile and perishable, belies the great quantity in which it was produced. Cloth painting was once a common technique, employed not only in the production of banners and awnings, but also for domestic wall- coverings. As a less costly alternative to tapestry hangings, painted or stained cloth was often the wall decoration of choice for moderately affluent families in England and continental Europe from the fourteenth to the late seventeenth century. Painting on cloth was also an alternative to panel painting, for both portraits and devotional subjects.