Prague circa 1400 was a centre of embroidery. In close cooperation, painters, who delivered a design, and silkworkers, who transposed it, created paintings with needle and thread. Highly valued, they are also to be found on liturgical garments outside the Bohemian Kingdom.
Unfortunately there is nothing preserved in the churches of Prague. Religious objects were destroyed as a consequence of the conflicts with the Hussites in Bohemia from 1419 on.
The depicted embroideries in Trient, Brandenburg and from Danzig represent both episcopal, provostal, sovereign and merchant class endowments as well as various situations regarding the orders and, thereby, the associated intentions of the donators; and also both the different levels of requirement and the variety of workshop practices: from a large-scale single order for a narrative cycle to serial production for export.
St. John, from
Cope M 24,
Prague around 1410/20,
Lübeck, Museum of St. Anne
