Saint Catherine of Alexandria 1510

Ambrogio Bergognone painted this image of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in Italy in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. Saint Catherine was a popular figure at this time, representing a challenge to social norms, the rise of humanism, and the institutional power of the church. Saint Catherine was an intellectual, who, according to legend, converted to Christianity and debated pagan philosophers, converting many of them to Christianity. As a challenge to the Roman Emperor Maxentius, this led to her torture on a spiked wheel, which miraculously broke. In the painting, the broken wheel lies next to her, along with the sword and the head of Maxentius, symbols of her martyrdom. With her palm frond, she triumphantly represents the victory of Christianity over paganism. Understanding Bergognone’s art requires an understanding of the philosophical debates in Renaissance Italy, and the rise of the universities, as well as a study of religious institutional history. In this way, we can more deeply understand not just the aesthetics of the painting, but its cultural significance, too.