This tapestry was inspired by the medieval tapestries I saw during my travels as a Winston Churchill Fellow and the medieval frescos I saw in Bulgaria. Many I saw depicted various Marys weeping over Christ but it occurred to me one would not be caught weeping in front of the murderers of one’s loved one, but as an accuser one would look back with dignity and a spine of oak. The idea had a personal resonance with me and this is the result, I as the weaver, and also a Mary (my middle name) gets to look out through them. The medieval images are known as the Lamentation of Christ, and I have called this The Lamentation as a nod to the original source.
This tapestry was inspired by the medieval tapestries I saw during my travels as a Winston Churchill Fellow and the medieval frescos I saw in Bulgaria. Many I saw depicted various Marys weeping over Christ but it occurred to me one would not be caught weeping in front of the murderers of one’s loved one, but as an accuser one would look back with dignity and a spine of oak. The idea had a personal resonance with me and this is the result, I as the weaver, and also a Mary (my middle name) gets to look out through them. The medieval images are known as the Lamentation of Christ, and I have called this The Lamentation as a nod to the original source.
This tapestry was inspired by the medieval tapestries I saw during my travels as a Winston Churchill Fellow and the medieval frescos I saw in Bulgaria. Many I saw depicted various Marys weeping over Christ but it occurred to me one would not be caught weeping in front of the murderers of one’s loved one, but as an accuser one would look back with dignity and a spine of oak. The idea had a personal resonance with me and this is the result, I as the weaver, and also a Mary (my middle name) gets to look out through them. The medieval images are known as the Lamentation of Christ, and I have called this The Lamentation as a nod to the original source.
Chrissie Freeth
Photo Credit: Rob Janaway
Saint Catherine
2019
Cotton warp, hand-dyed woollen weft, metalic embroidery thread
1.80m x 1.80m
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This tapestry of St Catherine of Alexandria was woven for an exhibition at Ripon Cathedral. In the third century she refused to recant her Christianity or succumb to the king who subsequently had her flogged and starved in a prison. A bird brought her food and an angel anointed her wounds. The queen came upon them in the dungeon and converted but for her trouble the king had her paps removed and then her head, Catherine was also beheaded. Catherine was a major figure in medieval tapestries and I felt there was some resonance with these teenage martyrs and today's young women such as Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai and Emma González who are standing up to authority figures, as well as with the #Metoo movement.
On the left is Catherine with golden blood (although in legends her blood was milk). She holds an apple and the dove that brought it to her, and an angel anoints her wound. The initial inspiration for this tapestry was in the weaving of an angel but as it progress his winds were replaced by golden starts and crosses on his cloak to denote his otherness. The queen carries a torch into the dungeon but it also acts as a balance to the dove (peace, war etc) and she holds her hand toward her breast foreshadowing her fate. I was never clear why Catherine became so venerated and yet the queen is just a footnote and so in her dress are fronds representing the martyrs palm. Catherine's clothing has poppies representing blood and remembrance.