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1 of 253523 objects
Saint Catherine of Alexandria c.1625-8
Oil on canvas | 103.2 x 84.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405547
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An extremely popular subject in art, St Catherine of Alexandria is said to have been executed under the Emperor Maxentius in the fourth century. When tortured on a wheel, she was unharmed and the wheel miraculously broke; subsequently she was killed by a sword. Here St Catherine is shown at half-length, facing the spectator, with her head upturned. She is holding a palm in her right hand, and wearing a crown and a blue dress with a golden mantle lined in red. The crown refers to her royal birth.
There are a number of versions and variants of the design, including a miniature copy on ivory at Buckingham Palace.
The painting appears in Pyne's illustrated Royal Residences of 1819, hanging in the King's Dressing Room at Windsor Castle (RCIN 922105).Provenance
First certainly recorded in the King's Closet at Windsor Castle in 1792 and 1813; this may be the cut down remains of the full-length Guido Reni of St Catherine recorded as an overdoor in the Princess's Bedchamber at Windsor in 1688, 1710, 1750 and 1776. Alternatively 405547 may be the 'Domenichino, St Catherine' listed in the Prince's Dressing Room at Leicester House in 1749, and presumably acquired by Frederick, Prince of Wales
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Creator(s)
Previously attributed to the style of (artist)(nationality) -
Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
103.2 x 84.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
126.2 x 109.5 x 9.0 cm (frame, external)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Saint Catherine