Back

St. Catherine

unknown (Austrian School)

Basic information

ID: С-I-576
Author: unknown (Austrian School)
Name: St. Catherine
Date of creation: 18th c.
Country: Austria
Culture: Modern times
Technique: carving
Material: alabaster gilt
Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm): 38.5 x 12 x 6

Additionally

Type: sculpture
Genre: religious
Plot: Saint Catherine

Information about author

Author: unknown (Austrian School)

Object description

St. Catherine of Alexandria was a Christian saint, the daughter of the ruler of Alexandria. Educated, beautiful and wealthy, in 304, she converted to Christianity and preached it. By order of Emperor Maximian, she was tortured for her faith in Christ. After long persuasions to deny Christ and join the pagans, the executioners stripped Catherine and beat her with ox veins for two hours on her shoulders and stomach. Then they put the girl between four wheels with sharp teeth and began to tear her body apart, but an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and the wheels were shattered. Then, the executioners cut off Catherine of Alexandria's head with a sword. In the work from the collection of Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, a carving by an unknown 18th-century master depicts the saint tied to a post while being tortured with ox veins. The image is static, generalised, decorative, and conventional, based on the saint's recognisability through references to well-known iconographic examples.

Portrayed person