Masterpieces

Tapestry depicting two narrative scenes. Front view.

Tapestries of the story of Saint Stephen, Piece I, The Martyrdom of Saint Etienne, Cl. 20200
 © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Tapestry depicting two historical scenes. Front view.

Tapestries of the story of st Etienne, Piece II, The Martyrdom of Saint Etienne, Cl. 9930 © GrandPalaisRmn - Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Tapestry depicting two historical scenes. Front view.

Tapestries of the story of Saint Stephen, Piece IV, The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen, Cl. 9931 © GrandPalaisRmn - Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Tapestry depicting the body of a man lying in the grass and surrounded by animals. Above, two angels carry the naked body of the same man toward heaven.

Tapestries of the story of Saint Stephen, Piece V, The martyr’s body exposed to wild beasts, Cl. 9932 © GrandPalaisRmn - Michel Urtado

Tapestry depicting three scenes. From left to right: a group of men conversing; men in a workshop who have fallen asleep at their work; several men carrying the body of a tonsured man.

Tapestries of the story of Saint Stephen, Piece VI, The invention of relics, Cl. 9933 © GrandPalaisRmn - Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Tapestry depicting a bishop directing workers who are digging. Behind him, a crowd is processing.

Tapestries of the story of Saint Stephen, Piece VIII, The discovery of the relics of Saint Stephen, Cl. 9934
 © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Tapestry depicting two scenes: on the right, the transport of a dead man's body; on the left, a burial scene.

Tapestries of the story of Saint Stephen, Piece VIII, The invention of Saint Stephen, Cl. 9935 © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Tapestries of the story of saint Stephen

Description

On display - room 21

Between 1500 and 1509

Late Middle Ages

This exceptional series of 12 tapestries depicts the life, martyrdom and posthumous miracles of Stephen, patron saint of Auxerre cathedral, in 23 scenes. It was commissioned for this building by the bishop Jean III Baillet, whose coats of arms appear multiple times.

The templates for the wall-hanging are attributed to a Nordic painter, Gaultier de Campes, who lived in Paris.

From his election to the deacons to his burial in Rome, the episodes of St Stephen’s life are recounted in compositions teeming with evocative details, annotated with captions woven at the foot of each scene. Architecture, furniture, characters dressed in the fashions of the time, animals and monsters all help to illustrate a tale in which the supernatural intervenes in various forms, up to and including the final episode, when the deacon St Lawrence takes the place of Stephen’s body in his tomb.

Commissioned by Jean III Baillet, bishop of Auxerre (1477-1513).

Acquired in 1880 (two pieces acquired by the Louvre in 1838 were granted in 1897).

From one artwork to another

Lead object: boat with an inscription on the sail carrying a Virgin and Child. Front view.

Pilgrimage badge, Notre-Dame, Cl. 4697 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Pilgrimage badges

13th century - 14th century - 15th century