Peter Paul Rubens (follower Of), Saint Catherine

Peter Paul Rubens (follower of)
Siegen, 1577 - Amsterdam, 1640

Saint Catherine
oil on copper, cm. 26.5x33.5
In an ebonized wooden frame

The painting depicts Saint Catherine standing before a base with two powerful twisting columns in a gently rolling river landscape. He wears a long white robe, a golden coat embroidered on the hem, holds a palm branch in his right hand and a large sword in his left as a sign of his martyrdom. Its traditional attribute, a large spiked wheel, leans against the columns. She should have renounced her Christian faith under Emperor Maxentius, but when she didn't, she was first subjected to wheel martyrdom and then beheaded.

The work, for which an attribution to Stalbernt had been put forward, seems more precisely to be placed with the great Flemish master Rubens, probably produced by one of his students or by a skilled artist active in his entourage. Numerous references suggest this second hypothesis.
First of all, the columns depicted here and the golden mantle clearly correspond to Rubens' work "The head of Cyrus brought to Queen Tomiri" presented at an auction in Antwerp on 22.11.2004.
Again, the depiction is a clear derivation from the print "Sancta Catherina Virgo et Martyr" by Bolswert Schelte Adamsz (1581-1659), which in turn goes back to an unknown, probably lost, painting by Rubens, which is probably a adapted copy of the figure of the saint on the back of the right side panel of Rubens' triptych "The Exaltation of the Cross" in Antwerp Cathedral.

In the painting, his head is surrounded by a radiant aura. In the sky we see two cherubim with wings, one holding a laurel wreath with flowers and the other throwing flowers that lie on the ground in front of the saint. On the right side of the image, a typical Flemish landscape with a lake, plants and flowers. The work is fine and harmonious, rendered with sober colors with many details: we can see white water lilies in the river and blue water lilies on the shore, as well as a small couple of birds in the sky. In excellent general condition, only a few minor adjustments.