Fredegund by the Deathbed of Bishop Praetextatus

This painting depicts the Merovingian queen Fredegund at the deathbed of Bishop Praetextatus. The artist drew the subject from Gregory of Tours and Augustin Thierry’s History of the Merovingians. Wife of King Chilperic I, Fredegund remained in historical memory as a powerful figure associated with the violence and bloody rivalries of the second half of the 6th century. Praetextatus, bishop of Rouen, had opposed the queen and was murdered after Chilperic’s death. The work thus stages a dramatic episode from the Merovingian age while also reflecting the 19th-century fascination with cruel queens, court intrigue, and the dark origins of the Frankish kingdom.