St. Catherine Enthroned

Second half of 15th century
High relief in alabaster
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 41-190-470
Provenance: Northern Spain

Identification of St. Catherine of Alexandria is from the museum label. This saint's most common attribute, the spiked wheel, is absent. Her left hand holds what may originally have been an intact sword. Her other attribute is the crown, signifying her royal lineage. Her victory over Emperor Maxentius (i.e., by being martyred at his command) is signified by his head beneath her feet, a common trope in images of martyrs.

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Photographed at the museum by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.