The tapestries of St Anatoile (1502–1506): Burgundian perceptions of a ‘Scottish’ saint and the royal house of Scotland at the turn of the sixteenth century

The town of Salins-les-Bains, France, is renowned for its historic salt-works. During the period 1502–1506 the canons of the collegiate church there commissioned an extraordinary series of fourteen tapestries commemorating the life and miracles of Saint Anatoile. Three of the tapestries are preserve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInnes review Vol. 70; no. 1; pp. 1 - 35
Main Author Coombs, Bryony
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published UK Edinburgh University Press 01.05.2019
Subjects
Historical Studies
Jean Sauvage
Cult of the saints
Saint Anatoile
Scotland
pilgrimage
Salins
tapestries
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Summary:The town of Salins-les-Bains, France, is renowned for its historic salt-works. During the period 1502–1506 the canons of the collegiate church there commissioned an extraordinary series of fourteen tapestries commemorating the life and miracles of Saint Anatoile. Three of the tapestries are preserved in Paris at the Musée du Louvre, and documents survive recording the original programme of all fourteen tapestries. Of great interest is the stress laid on the Scottish origin of Saint Anatoile, who is described in the tapestries as ‘fils du roi d'Escoce’ (‘son of the king of Scotland’). The importance of the saint's Scottish royal pedigree is visually emphasised by the prolific inclusion of the royal arms of Scotland: on one of the surviving tapestries the arms appear eleven times. What this commission tells us of early sixteenth-century Burgundian attitudes to Scots, the royal house of Scotland, and Scottish royal piety is here examined.
ISSN:0020-157X
1745-5219
DOI:10.3366/inr.2019.0200