05/06/2026
This embroidered wall hanging by Martha Freud, Sigmund Freud's wife, reads "En cas de doute abstiens-toi" - "if in doubt abstain". This proverb, embroidered in French, may originate from Augustine of Hippo, a Christian theologian and philosopher.
Stitched by hand on brown velvet, Sigmund asked Martha to create this "votive panel", with two others, just before a trip to Paris in approx. 1885. They were hung above his desk at the Vienna General Hospital upon his return, forming part of the collection of embroidered items that Martha gifted to Sigmund during their lengthy engagement.
Sigmund Freud's time in Paris proved influential, and his studies under Jean-Martin Charcot marked a turning point in his thinking: he began to turn his attention to illnesses that could be considered psychogenic (originating in the mind rather than the body). This work set him on a path that would eventually lead him to develop psychoanalysis.
Many of the women in the Freud family, including Martha, her sister Minna, and her daughter Anna, created textiles, embroidery, and weaving, sitting in the half-landing of their home in Maresfield Gardens to hone their art forms. In later years Anna used metaphors of weaving to describe the development of the mind in her own practice.
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