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Martyrdom of St. Edmund, Pickering, N.Yorkshire (‡York) Later C.15

Photo:T.Marshall Martyrdom of St. Edmund, Pickering [123KB] This very fine (and, like all those at Pickering, very large) painting was made, again like all those in the church, sometime between 1461 and 1483, and in its less exalted way it is, I think, as much on the cusp between ‘Medieval’ and ‘Renaissance’ as, say, Gentile da Fabriano’s Adoration of the Magi altarpiece of 1423.¹ Edmund, crowned and already with a halo, is bound to a tree with a bubble-like cloud of flourishing leaves showing above his head. He is pierced with many murderous-looking arrows fired by the four archers who surround him. Their garments, including the deeply fashionable very short tunic, are more appropriate for swaggering young men of the town than military archers, whether English, Danish or for that matter Roman, since the influence here from paintings of the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian is surely undeniable.² The two archers in the foreground in particular look thoroughly Italianate in their elegantly articulated and posed bodies - the one on the left apparently restringing his bow, the one on the right looking thoughtfully at Edmund.

Entirely medieval in spirit though are the inscriptions at the top of the scene. Around Edmund’s head, angelic hands (the one at the left clearer) hold a continuous scroll. Only the word ‘Edmund’ to the left of the tree’s foliage is readable, but the rest of the sentence probably identified him fully as martyred King of the East Angles. The second scroll on the right, curving around the head, shoulders and elbow of the upper right-hand archer, reads ‘Heven blyß to his mede, hym s[h]all have for hys gud de[de]...’.

The Life of St. Catherine at Pickering and the fine St. Christopher are now on the site. The reorganised page for the Seven Works of Mercy and the new page for the Passion Cycle are also here.

¹Now in the Uffizi, Florence
²For example that of 1475 by the Pollaiuolo brothers (National Gallery, London)

St. Andrew Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read-Corby Glen, Lincolnshire St. Antony and the Pig, Barton, Cambridgeshire St. Barbara : Hessett, Suffolk St. Bartholomew : Selling, Kent St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Castor, Cambs St.Catherine of Alexandria : Hardley Street, Norfolk
St.Catherine of Alexandria : Old Weston, Northants St.Catherine of Alexandria : Pickering, N. Yorks St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Sporle, Norfolk St. Clement : South Leigh, Oxon. St. Dunstan holding the Devil by the nose : Barton, Cambs St.Edmund : Boxford, Suffolk St. Edmund : Lakenheath, Suffolk
St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Bishopsbourne, Kent St.Edmund, Martyrdom of : Fritton, Norfolk St. Edmund (or St. Walstan) : Gisleham, Norfolk St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Pickering, N.Yorks St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Stoke Dry, Rutland St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Troston, Suffolk St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Weare Giffard, Devon
St.Eloi, Broughton, Bucks St. Eloi and the possessed horse, Slapton, Northants St. Eloi, as bishop & blacksmith, Wensley, N.Yorks St.Erasmus, Martyrdom of : Chippenham, Cambs St. Etheldreda : Willingham, Cambs St.Francis Preaching to the Birds : Wissington, Suffolk St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, Slapton, Northants
St. George & Dragon : Banningham, Norfolk St. George & Dragon : Broughton, Bucks St. George & Dragon : Earl Stonham, Suffolk St. George & Dragon : Fritton, Norfolk St. George & Dragon : Hornton, Oxon St. George dedicating himself to the Virgin : Astbury, Cheshire St. George, with the princess : Little Kimble, Bucks
St.Helena, Broughton, Bucks St.James the Great : Hales, Norfolk Life of St. James, Stoke Orchard, Gloucestershire St. James the Great, meeting pilgrims : Wisborough Green, Sussex St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Heydon, Norfolk St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Idsworth, Hampshire
St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Old Weston, Northants Life of St. John the Baptist : Cerne Abbas, Dorset St. John the Evangelist, Selling, Kent St. John the Evangelist, Weston Longville, Norfolk St. Margaret of Antioch : Old Weston, Northants St. Margaret and the dragon : South Newington, Oxfordshire St. Margaret of Antioch Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland
St. Margaret of Antioch, Life of : Charlwood, Surrey Life of St. Margaret, Wendens Ambo, Essex Martyrdom of St. Margaret, Duxford, Cambridgeshire NEW St. Martin dividing his cloak, Chalgrave, Beds St. Martin dividing his cloak, Wareham, Dorset St.Nicholas of Myra, life of : Little Horwood, Bucks St. Nicholas of Myra, two miracles of : Wissington, Suffolk
St.Paul : Black Bourton, Oxon St. Paul : Beckley, Oxon St. Paul : Selling, Kent St. Peter : Beckley, Oxon St.Peter : Black Bourton, Oxon St. Peter, Martyrdom of : Chacombe, Northants St. Peter : Selling, Kent
St. Roch : Pinvin, Worcs St. Sexburga? : Willingham, Cambs St. Stephen, Stoning of: Black Bourton, Oxon St. Stephen, Stoning of: Catfield, Norfolk St.Swithun (?) enthroned : Old Weston, Northants Scenes from the life of St. Swithun : Corhampton, Hampshire St. Thomas Becket, blessing, Hauxton, Cambs.
St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, Marston Magna, Somerset St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, North Stoke, Oxfordshire NEW St.Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Burlingham, Norfolk St. Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Newington, Oxfordshire St. Walstan of Bawburgh? or St. Edmund : Gisleham, Norfolk St. Zita : Horley, Oxon St. Zita : Shorthampton, Oxon
Unidentified female saint : Heydon

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25/10/00

© Anne Marshall 2000