The Empress and Porphyrius Visit St. Catherine in Prison

Art Historical Context

This delicate roundel, created 1430 in the Netherlands, captures a moment from the legend of Catherine of Alexandria. The embroidered scene shows Empress Faustina and the Roman officer Porphyrius visiting the saint in her prison cell, where she had been confined for refusing to renounce her faith. Such narrative textiles often formed part of larger ecclesiastical vestments or altar furnishings, bringing sacred stories into the daily rituals of medieval worship. Measuring just six and a half inches across, the work demonstrates the extraordinary skill of Netherlandish embroiderers, who used fi...