Artwork
Saint Catherine
Saint Catherine is an oil painting by the High Renaissance artist Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina. It dates from 1510 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
She is depicted holding a book, symbolizing her renowned wisdom and scholarly defense of Christianity, and a sword, referencing her execution.
The painting represents Catherine of Alexandria as its central subject, firmly placing the work within the religious genre. The iconography incorporates several traditional attributes associated with the saint. She is depicted holding a book, symbolizing her renowned wisdom and scholarly defense of Christianity, and a sword, referencing her execution.
Additionally, she is shown with a ring and a gemstone, elements that allude to her mystical marriage to Christ. A cogwheel is also included, representing the spiked wheel on which she was tortured. Together, these symbols convey the saint's martyrdom, intellectual prowess, and divine union.
Technique & Style
Saint Catherine is executed in oil paint on panel, a technique characteristic of Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina's early sixteenth-century practice. The work is a religious painting dated 1510 and is held by the Museo del Prado. Its substantial format, measuring 212 cm in height and 112 cm in width, indicates a large vertical support suited to a full-length devotional figure.
The composition centers on Catherine of Alexandria, identified through her traditional attributes: the sword, book, ring, gemstone, and cogwheel, which are rendered in oil on the prepared panel surface.
History & Provenance
The work titled Saint Catherine was executed in 1510 by the Spanish painter Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina using oil on panel. It portrays the martyr Saint Catherine of Alexandria with attributes including a sword, book, ring, and wheel. The painting is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid and is classified as a religious painting. No documentation of its original commission or earlier owners has been identified in the available sources.
Overview
This oil painting, Saint Catherine, was completed in 1510 by the Spanish artist Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina. A notable example of the High Renaissance style, the work portrays Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The figure is depicted with her traditional attributes, including a book and a cogwheel, signifying her wisdom and martyrdom. This significant piece is housed in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
Artist & collection
Artist
Fernando (or Hernando) Yáñez de la Almedina, born in Almedina, Spain in c. 1475 and died in Valencia, Kingdom of Spain in 1536, was a Spanish painter. He was one of the most important early Renaissance painters in…
![Saint Catherine [right wing exterior], by Master of the Starck Triptych](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/master-of-the-starck-triptych--saint-catherine-right-wing-exterior--33943bd5985ff592-w320.webp)
