Fragment of the Shroud of Saint Lazarus

The Musée de Cluny has collected a wide range of textiles. They were made for numerous purposes in various materials using different technical processes, combining magnificence with rarity, and the sacred with the profane.

The fragment of the Shroud of Saint Lazarus, embroidered with a sphinx and a horse rider, was woven in a Muslim workshop in southern Spain. A fragment of the same fabric kept in Autun bears the inscription “le Victorieux” (the Victorious), a title given to Governor Abd-Al-Malik, who defeated the Christians in 1007. The shroud of the Patron Saint of Autun Cathedral is therefore a rare example of a precisely dated Islamic fabric.