Saint Catherine Of Alexandria – South Germany Around 1500

Carved basswood, South Germany, late 15th century.
Saint Catherine is presented standing holding a book in one hand, symbol of her learning, and in the other a sword which was the object of her loss. Wearing a crown enclosing her braided hair, she is dressed in a dress with a diamond-patterned neckline that closes over a shirt with a towel pleated collar held by a lace. Her long coat is raised at the front and held at the belt, thus forming an elegant drape. The hollow back was closed later and roughed out. Was the toothed wheel, attribute of the saint, which was used in her torture, attached to the base of our statue? Restorations.

Height: 145 cm

The main source for the hagiography of Saint Catherine is the Golden Legend by Jacques de Voragine written in the 13th century. The work reports that the martyred virgin of Alexandria who lived in the 4th century, known for her immense scholarship, was the daughter of a king. Converting many patricians by her learned and peremptory words, then rejecting the marriage advances of Emperor Maximin II Daia, it was decided that she would be crushed by wheels lined with saws and nails. These were broken by divine intervention and the saint was condemned to beheading.