The Martyrdom of Saint Mark 

The Limbourg brothers painted this illumination of ‘The Martyrdom of Saint Mark’ in the early 15th century. The image is a window into the cultural and political dynamics of the late medieval period. The scene depicts Saint Mark being dragged to his death, ostensibly for his religious beliefs. But it is worth asking what other messages might be found in the work’s visual codes and historical associations. The exotic turbans and dark skin of Mark’s persecutors, for example, reflect a growing fascination and fear of non-European cultures in Europe at this time, a time of crusades and nascent colonialism. The setting—a bizarre mix of Italianate architecture with northern European townhouses—suggests a world of expanding trade and cultural exchange, even as the martyrdom itself represents the violent suppression of difference. To truly understand this painting, a historian might consult period chronicles, theological texts, and even trade records. This would give us a richer understanding of the complex social conditions that shaped its creation and reception. Art, after all, does not exist in a vacuum, but in a world of institutions and social relations.