Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Saint Catherine of Alexandria
(Renaissance Europe )
Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Egypt) was a noblewoman, who, in the early 4th century, challenged the pagan Roman emperor with her faith in Christ. The emperor ordered her to be executed on a spiked wheel, but it miraculously broke, and he had her beheaded instead. She is identified here by the broken wheel with iron spikes.
Ferrucci, master sculptor of the cathedral of Florence, left the back of the statue unfinished, indicating that it was to be placed in a niche or in front of a wall as part of an architectural setting. The drapery covers Catherine's body in a way that reveals its underlying form, and the gracefully elongated proportions, as in her neck, are characteristic of the 16th-century ideal of female beauty. The orange stain on her chest is from an iron necklace (that had rusted) that is now lost.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Heim Gallery, Ltd., London [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [no. 16as Venetian, late 16th century, attributed to Girolamo Lombardo, 1505/06-1590 ]; Walters Art Museum, September 1970, by purchase.
Geographies
Italy, Naples (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 46 1/2 × W: 13 1/2 × D: 7 in. (118.11 × 34.29 × 17.78 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, 1970
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
27.579