FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG
Saint Katherine, one of the most popular saints in medieval Christendom, was believed to have been the scholarly daughter of the governor of Alexandria, Egypt. Katherine refused to participate in pagan worship, and moreover she used her oratorical skills to convert thousands of Roman subjects to Christianity. In this painting by the Spanish artist Blasco de Grañén, Katherine debates with the enthroned Roman emperor Maxentius (r. 306–12 CE). Although Maxentius conspires with his assistants to dispatch Katherine, her gold halo (a symbol of divine light) and the right hand of God emerging from a cloud in blessing show the belief that her martyrdom will be rewarded with eternal life in Heaven. This painting was once part of a monumental altarpiece in a church, designed to broadcast the drama of faith and redemption to the congregation, and therefore its message would have been especially powerful to viewers.
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