Saint Catherine of Alexandria

The saint is shown in a contemplative pose, wearing a red bodice with green sleeves and a heavy yellow mantle. She stands against a dark background decorated with a gold-leaf geometric trellis pattern. At her feet is the broken spiked wheel, the instrument of her attempted martyrdom, while she holds a green palm frond in her right hand.

As the patron saint of philosophers and scholars, Catherine of Alexandria represented the ideal of the 'Christian Philosopher' who successfully debated fifty pagan rhetoricians. In the Renaissance, her image served as a bridge between classical intellectualism and spiritual devotion, frequently appearing in the collections of humanists and natural philosophers.