  About the Artwork
  
  
  This embroidery, which originally may have been as long as fourteen feet, is one end of a cover for a church lectern. White-on-white embroideries of this type, traditionally done by nuns, are associated with Westphalian workshops in the Gothic period. The friezelike border depicts an episode from the life of Saint Giles who, according to legend, lived as a hermit in a cave near the Rhone River in France. When a deer pursued by a royal hunting party sought shelter with Giles, the saint was accidentally wounded by an arrow. He refused medical attention but was miraculously healed, inspiring the king to found a monastery on the spot. The embroidery depicts the saint in his cave at the left as the king and bishop, both on horseback, approach from the right with the hunters.
  
  
  Title
  Lectern Cover
  
  
  Artwork Date
  14th century
  
  Artist
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  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  German
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Linen embroidery on plain weave linen in three stitches; German interlacing, plaited braid and chain stitch
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 27 1/4 × 49 1/8 inches (69.2 × 124.8 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Embroidery
  
  
  Department
  European Sculpture and Dec Arts
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund with a contribution from the David L. Klein, Jr. Memorial Foundation.
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  1989.47
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
