TRUE FAITH

The Polish poster for Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio

The Dug-Out night club, Beirut (1960)

The embroidered chemise of St. Balthild, an 7th century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman sold into slavery in the house of Frankish king Clovis II, who eventually married her, making her queen of Neustria and Burgundy, and later queen-regent for her three sons. Balthild used her position to abolish Christian slave-trading in her kingdom, as well as buying many slaves to free them.

She established several religious institutions, including the abbeys of Chelles and Corbie, which became renowned as centers of learning in Medieval Europe. She retired to Chelles during the reign of her third son, Theodoric III, and died in 680; she would be canonized some 200 years later.

The chemise may have been embroidered by Balthild herself in her time at the abbey; the designs mimic the jewels she would have worn as queen, but embroidered in silk rather than gold thread, with the garment itself made of plain linen.