Photo:T.Marshall
Edmund stands at the left, silhouetted, like all three figures in this painting, against the plaster layer from below which he was recovered. This is an unusually spare, economical painting, but the participants in the drama are crowded together without much apparent concern for spatial logic.

Many thick arrows emerge already from the saint’s bare legs and his torso, but an archer in a short doublet, his head and shoulders in sharp profile, is shown in the act of firing another - comparison with the length of those already in Edmund’s flesh suggests that they have penetrated deeply. Behind this man stands another, taller, figure, apparently looking on. Much detail has gone, including both the legs of one, and most of those of the other of these two figures; if Edmund ever had a crown, that has gone too; although the expression of resignedly patient suffering remains eloquent on his bowed head.

It is hard to say whether the darkly pigmented faces of Edmund’s executioners, particularly the taller one, are intended to signify their infamy and ‘heathen’ status or are simply the result of age and, possibly, retouching, but treatments of this subject vary widely in their details, and there was never a standard way of depicting this Martyrdom.

Troston has several other paintings - a St. Christopher, two versions, one from the 13th century, of St. George and the Dragon, and the central part of a Doom over the chancel arch. All are forthcoming.

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. Hubert, Miracle of : Idsworth, Hants	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 NEW	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 NEW
St. Margaret of Antioch Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland	St. Margaret of Antioch, Life of : Charlwood, Surrey	Life of St. Margaret, Wendens Ambo, Essex	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. Peter : Beckley, Oxon	St.Peter : Black Bourton, Oxon	St. Peter, Martyrdom of : Chacombe, Northants	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 NEW	St. Thomas Becket, blessing, Hauxton, Cambs.	St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, Marston Magna, Somerset	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

15/4/2002