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 Mary Queen of Scots loved needlework. She stitched from the time she was alittle girl growing up in the royal court of France until the day of herexecution (at the age of forty-four). Once Mary returned to Scotland fromFrance in 1561, her life was never the same. Her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I,felt threatened by Mary and finally imprisoned her. Because of herconfinement, Mary spent much of her time stitching. Mary's needlework hasbeen likened to letters which expressed her thoughts in stitches throughallegory and symbols. It would have been far too dangerous for her toverbalize those thoughts. The needlework piece pictured here is one of thecenter panels of the Oxburgh hangings stitched by Mary Queen of Scots.Notice the hand coming from the sky holding the sickle ready to cut down thevine instead of allowing it to flourish. This picture suggests that Marywas aware of her impending doom at the hand of Queen Elizabeth. Because ofall of the needlework pieces stitched by Mary, we have been provided with amore personal glimpse into the misfortunes of a martyred queen. |  | |||||
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