Title of Art: Saint Catherine of Alexandria with scenes of her life and portraits of the donors in prayer
Artist: Giovanni Del Biondo
Art Form: Painting
Date of Composition: 1378-1410
Subjects: Catherine of Alexandria
Ritual Pose/Object: enthroned pose, crown, book, wheel
Exhibit Institution: Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Opera del Duomo Museum)
Exhibit Location: Florence, Italy
VM Image #: 0003
Photographer: Shala Graham
Date of Photograph: January 6, 2023
Featured on Podcast: Listen to Podcast
Download: 
Full View:
St. Catherine of Alexandria, with scenes from her life and portraits of her donors in prayer. Catherine sits enthroned, wearing a golden crown and holding a book.
Catherine of Alexandria is seated on a throne holding a book, while Noferi de’ Bischeri, the patron of the painting, and his two sons kneel before her in veneration. The eight surrounding scenes recount the life of a woman who rose above traditional roles to confront the Roman Emperor Maxentius’ persecution of Christians. The first two scenes show her debating the Emperor and a group of philosophers. Through eloquence and sound arguments, all fifty philosophers were converted to Christianity and ordered to be put to death by Maxentius. Panels four through eight show the three attempts at killing St Catherine: imprisonment and starvation, the spiked wheel, and finally beheading. In whole, the painting displays both a remarkable life given for the faith, and the esteem she was held in for generations after her death.