The Martydom of St. Catherine

Saint Catherine, born in Alexandria, Egypt, was revered for her beauty and intellect. According to Christian belief, she succeeded in converting many pagans, including the wife of the Roman Emperor Maxentius. The emperor himself, however, ordered Catherine to be imprisoned and then condemned her to death. The "breaking wheel," an instrument of torture, was intended to be the means of her death and became her symbol (visible behind her in the painting). However, legend has it that the wheel broke at Catherine’s touch, so she was beheaded instead. This moment of great tension just before her death is depicted here. Like the scenes of classical sacrifice on view elsewhere in this section, Fontebasso’s painting includes a large cast of onlookers; their witness to the act of brutality may seem compassionate or prurient, depending on one’s point of view.