Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Raphael)

Painting by Raphael

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Artist| Raphael
Year| c. 1507–1509
Medium| oil on wood
Dimensions| 72.2 cm × 55.7 cm (28.4 in × 21.9 in)
Location| National Gallery, London
Portrait of Italian Renaissance painter Raphael who painted Saint Catherine.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. In the painting, Catherine of Alexandria is looking upward in ecstasy and leaning on a wheel, an allusion to the breaking wheel (or Catherine wheel) of her martyrdom.[1]

It was painted c. 1507–1509, towards the end of Raphael's sojourn in Florence, and shows the young artist in a transitional phase. The depiction of religious passion in the painting is still reminiscent of Pietro Perugino, but the graceful contrapposto of Catherine's pose is typical of the influence of Leonardo da Vinci on Raphael, and is believed to be an echo of Leonardo's lost painting Leda and the Swan. In 2022 the painting was included in an exhibition held by the National Gallery.

## Subject and interpretation

[edit]

The central figure in this painting is the fourth-century princess, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, standing in front of a rural landscape. She converted to Christianity after an encounter with a desert hermit, and experienced a vision of mystic marriage to Christ.[2] After she refused to renounce her faith, Emperor Maxentius planned to torture her and bind her to a wheel, however, a thunderbolt destroyed the wheel before he could do so, and Maxentius instead chose to behead her; the wheel in the bottom right corner, which she rests on, serves a reference to this event.[2] This wheel often appears in other artistic representations of Saint Catherine as well, from the thirteenth-century onwards.[3] Raphael did not include other symbols associated with the saint in this portrait, such as a sword or palm leaf, which represent her knowledge.[3]

Raphael's depiction of Saint Catherine highlights her sense of ecstasy. Golden light radiates from the top left corner of the canvas onto her face, emphasizing her connection to God.[3] Likewise, she faces upwards, with parted lips and her hand over her heart, as Raphael attempted to capture a moment of divine bliss.[2] Her graceful pose also bares resemblance to statues from Antiquity, such as a Venus pudica or a classical Muse.[2]

The painting places Catherine in a peaceful rural setting; she stands in front of blue skies, hills, and trees, which are reflected in the body of water to her left. This tranquil landscape separates her from the violent events surrounding her death.[2] In the foreground, Raphael painted small flowers, including a dandelion in the bottom left corner of the canvas. Some painters from Germany and the Netherlands included dandelions in their representations of Jesus' Crucifixion. Thus, the dandelion in Raphael's Saint Catherine of Alexandria may similarly serve as a symbol of Christian grief or Christ's passion.[2]

## Painting materials and technique

[edit]

Raphael employed pigments of oil paint such as natural ultramarine, madder lake, ochres and lead-tin yellow in painting Saint Catherine's gown.[3] An X-ray photograph of the portrait revealed that Raphael used semi-transparent paint with low lead content for the flesh tones, while employing paint with higher lead content for the more vibrant dress, landscape and sky.[3] He also mixed finely powdered glass into several of the pigments to accelerate the drying of the oil paints.[3] An infrared photograph taken of the portrait revealed a free-hand drawing of Saint Catherine done initially by Raphael beneath the layers of paint.[3] Infrared reflectography also uncovered traces of pouncing along the contours of Saint Catherine’s right shoulder and along the outlines of her sleeves, originating from the cartoon sketch of the portrait.[2]

Michelangelo's marble sculpture of Saint Matthew that served as an inspiration for Saint Catherine's pose.

Raphael emphasizes the upper parts of the Saint’s body. He portrays Saint Catherine in a contrapposto pose and with an intense twisting of her torso as her head is turned over her right shoulder to gaze up at the sky.[3] Her sculptural form and the foreshortening Raphael employed to raise her head are derived from Michelangelo’s Saint Matthew.[2]

This painting is influenced by both classical and Italian Renaissance works. Saint Catherine’s graceful pose evokes the form of classical statues such as the Venus pudica. Raphael also draws inspiration from Italian Renaissance painter Pietro Perugino, incorporating elements such as landscapes, flowers, the contrapposto pose, rich, saturated colors, and hatched modeling to create shadows. The painting draws from composition and techniques of additional works from the Italian Renaissance, such as Leonardo’s Leda and the Swan and Michelangelo’s Saint Matthew. [2]

## Initial sketches and cartoon

[edit]

The Louvre in Paris where Raphael's cartoon resides.

Three studies and one cartoon for Raphael's Saint Catherine of Alexandria have survived.[3] Today, the cartoon rests in the Louvre in Paris.[4] Of Raphael's sketches depicting scenes about or related to this painting, the cartoon most closely resembles the painting that exists today.[3] The figure of St. Catherine holds a similar pose in both works. In both the painting and the cartoon, St. Catherine holds her right hand to her breast. Her left hand rests on her thigh, her fingers digging into the fabric of her robe. Her left elbow rests on the wheel to her side, a visual reminder of her martyrdom and resilience. However, the cartoon differs from the completed painting in that the background was left blank.

German art historian Jürg Meyer zur Capellen notes that while Raphael created a cartoon, there is no visual evidence of pouncing on the completed painting.[3] Additionally, x-ray analysis of the completed painting reveals a "free-hand underdrawing" rather than a design transferred from the cartoon.[3] Meyer zur Capellen uses the similarities in the pose, composition, and depth of detail between the painting and cartoon, as well as the lack of transferred material from the cartoon to the painting surface, to suggest that Raphael free-handedly copied the design onto the panel using the cartoon as a reference.[3]

Art historian and curator Hugo Chapman writes that the rough, loose strokes of charcoal on the cartoon is due to Raphael studying Leonardo da Vinci's cartoon techniques.[2] Raphael was inspired by Leonardo's use of chiaroscuro and sfumato in his cartoons, and Raphael explored these techniques to create a guide to how he would depict the lighting in the finished painting.[2]

## See also

[edit]

* List of paintings by Raphael
* Saint Catherine (Caravaggio)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Capgrave, John, and Karen A. Winstead. 2011. The life of Saint Katherine of Alexandria. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Chapman, Hugo (2004). Raphael, from Urbino to Rome. London: National Gallery. pp. 222–230.222-230&rft.pub=National+Gallery&rft.date=2004&rft.aulast=Chapman&rft.aufirst=Hugo&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Saint+Catherine+of+Alexandria+(Raphael)" class="Z3988">
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Meyer zur Capellen, Jürg (2001). Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Paintings. Landshut: Arcos. p. 269.
4. ^ Santi, Raffaello (1507), Sainte Catherine d'Alexandrie, retrieved 2025-03-19

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Raphael at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Raphael

* List of paintings

Early works|

* Baronci Altarpiece (1500–1501)
* Saint Sebastian (1501–1502)
* Resurrection of Christ (1499–1502)
* Mond Crucifixion (1502–1503)
* Madonna and Child with the Book (c. 1503)
* Solly Madonna (c. 1500–1504)
* Oddi Altar (1502–1504)
* Conestabile Madonna (c. 1502–1504)
* Portrait of a Man (c. 1503–1504)
* Vision of a Knight (1503–1504)
* The Marriage of the Virgin (1504)
* Diotallevi Madonna (c. 1504)
* Portrait of Perugino 1 (c. 1504)
* Colonna Altarpiece (c. 1503–1505)
* Saint George (c. 1503–1505)
* Three Graces (c. 1503–1505)
* Saint Michael (c. 1504–1505)

Florentine period|

* Christ Blessing (c. 1502–1504)
* Portrait of Pietro Bembo (c. 1504)
* Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga 2 (c. 1504–1505)
* Portrait of Emilia Pia da Montefeltro 2 (c. 1504–1505)
* Small Cowper Madonna (c. 1504–1505)
* Terranuova Madonna (c. 1504–1505)
* Madonna del Granduca (c. 1505)
* Saint George and the Dragon (c. 1505)
* Young Man with an Apple (c. 1505)
* Self-portrait (1504–1506)
* La donna gravida (1505–1506)
* Madonna del Cardellino (c. 1505–1506)
* Young Woman with Unicorn (c. 1505–1506)
* Madonna del Prato (1506)
* Madonna with Beardless Saint Joseph (c. 1506)
* Portrait of Agnolo Doni (c. 1506)
* Portrait of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro (c. 1506)
* Portrait of Maddalena Doni (c. 1506)
* Ansidei Madonna (1505–1507)
* Madonna of the Pinks (c. 1506–1507)
* Bridgewater Madonna (c. 1507–1508)
* The Deposition (1507)
* Madonna of the Baldacchino (c. 1506–1508)
* La belle jardinière (1507–1508) (completed by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio)
* Canigiani Holy Family (c. 1507–1508)
* Colonna Madonna (c. 1507–1508)
* Portrait of a Young Woman (La Muta) (c. 1507–1508)
* Esterhazy Madonna (c. 1508)
* Niccolini-Cowper Madonna (1508)
* Tempi Madonna (1508)
* Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1507–1509)

Roman period|

* Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami (c. 1509)
* Garvagh Madonna (c. 1509–1510)
* Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (c. 1509–1511)
* Portrait of a Cardinal (c. 1510–1511)
* Alba Madonna (c. 1511)
* Madonna of Loreto (c. 1511)
* The Prophet Isaiah (1511–1512)
* Madonna of Foligno (c. 1511–1512)
* Portrait of Pope Julius II (1511, 1512)
* Galatea (c. 1512)
* Madonna with the Fish (c. 1512–1514)
* Madonna della Seggiola (c. 1513–1514)
* Madonna of the Candelabra (c. 1513–1514)
* Sistine Madonna (c. 1513–1514)
* Madonna dell'Impannata (c. 1513–1514)
* Madonna della Tenda (c. 1513–1514)
* Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1513–1514)
* Sibyls (1514)
* Portrait of Bindo Altoviti (c. 1512–1515)
* Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (c. 1514–1515)
* Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary (c. 1514–1516)
* Creation of the World (1516)
* Portrait of Andrea Navagero and Agostino Beazzano (1516)
* Portrait of Cardinal Bibbiena (c. 1516)
* La velata (c. 1516)
* Visitation (c. 1517)
* The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia (c. 1514–1517)
* Madonna with the Blue Diadem (c. 1510–1518)
* Holy Family of Francis I (1518)
* Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan (1518)
* Ezekiel's Vision (c. 1518)
* Portrait of Doña Isabel de Requesens y Enríquez de Cardona-Anglesola (with Giulio Romano) (c. 1518)
* Saint Margaret and the Dragon (c. 1518)
* La Fornarina (1518–1519)
* Small Holy Family (c. 1518–1519) (with Giulio Romano)
* Portrait of a Young Woman (c. 1518–1519) (with Giulio Romano)
* Transfiguration (1516–1520)
* Madonna de Bogota (c. 1517–1520)
* Portrait of Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals (c. 1518–1520)
* Madonna of the Rose (1518–1520)
* Self-Portrait with a Friend (1518–1520)

Raphael Rooms|

* The Parnassus (1509–1511)
* The School of Athens (1509–1511)
* Disputation of the Holy Sacrament (1510–1511)
* Cardinal and Theological Virtues (1511)
* The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple (1511–1512)
* The Mass at Bolsena (1512–1514)
* The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila (1513–1514)
* Liberation of Saint Peter (1514)
* The Fire in the Borgo (c. 1514–1517) (executed by Giulio Romano)

Tapestry cartoons|

* Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1514–1516)
* Christ's Charge to Peter (1514–1516)
* Healing of the Lame Man (1514–1516)
* Death of Ananias (1514–1516)
* Conversion of the Proconsul (1514–1516)
* Sacrifice at Lystra (1514–1516)
* Saint Paul Preaching in Athens (1514–1516)

Drawings|

* Lucretia (1500s)
* Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1508)

Sculptures|

* Jonah (1520) (executed by Lorenzetto)
* Elijah (c. 1520–1524) (executed by Lorenzetto and Raffaello da Montelupo)

Buildings|

* Chigi Chapel (1507–1520) (continued by other architects)
* Palazzo Jacopo da Brescia (1515–1519)
* Palazzo Branconio dell'Aquila (c. 1520)
* Sant'Eligio degli Orefici (1509–1575) (completed by Baldassare Peruzzi and Bastiano da Sangallo)
* Villa Madama (1518–1525) (completed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and other disciples)
* Villa Farnesina (decoration)

Related|

* Giovanni Santi (father)
* Imperia Cognati (mistress and model)
* Margarita Luti (mistress and model)
* Giulio Romano (disciple and collaborator)
* Raphael and La Fornarina (1813 painting)
* Raphael (1894 opera)
* La Fornarina (1944 film)
* Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
* SS Raffaello
* Raphael (crater)
* Vatican loggias

* 1 Also attributed to Lorenzo di Credi
* 2 Attributed

This article about a sixteenth-century painting is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[c.]: circa
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template