St. Catherine of Alexandria


St. Catherine of Alexandria
by Caravaggio
St. Catherine of Alexandria was born to a noble family of Alexandria; she refused to marry the Emperor Maxetius himself because of her previous “mystic marriage” to Christ. The emperor ordered 50 Alexandrian philosophers to prove to her the absurdity of her faith, but she effectively regarded all their arguments. The emperor, enraged by this rebuff, ordered the philosophers to be burnt alive and Catherine to be broken on a spiked wheel. The wheel miraculously fell to pieces, and finally Catherine was beheaded.

The part of her legend also says that in her vision she underwent a mystic marriage with Christ, who put a gold ring on her finger. Another version of the legend says that when Catherine was praying to a small icon of Virgin with Child, he turned his head and placed a ring on her finger.

Catherine of Alexandria is patron saint of young girls, students, clergy, wheelwrights and millers. In fine art she is often represented with a wheel, or a part of a broken wheel; in episode of her “wedding” angels usually surround her.

Information provided by: http://www.abcgallery.com