#st catherine of alexandria

[illustratus]

Lucrezia Borgia by Pinturicchio

Detail from the Disputation of St Catherine of Alexandria

[mermaidbarbies]

Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon, in images from a choirbook created by the workshop of Petrus Alamire, and commissioned by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, c.1510s.

Henry and Katharine are each supported by a saint: Henry by Saint George as the patron saint of England, and Katharine by her namesake saint, Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

The Virgin of the Rose – Simone Cantarini // Wedding of Marie de Medici and Henry IV of France – Jacopo da Empoli (detail) // St Catherine of Alexandria – Pietro Paolini // King - Florence + the Machine

[dandelionjack]

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Guido Reni (Italian, 1575-1642) Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c.1605 Museo Diocesano, Albenga, Italien

[anastpaul]

(via One Minute Reflection – 25 November – ‘ … I would not have left Him alone so often! …’ – AnaStpaul)

[catholic-saint-tournament]

Round 2 results here

[beebees-photography]

Visit to St Catherine's Chapel in Abbotsbury. These images are views of the chapel, inside and outside. As well as views of the surrounding landscape.

[rossodimarte]

St. Catherine of Alexandria, ca. 1420, St. Emmeran, Mainz.

[maypoleman1]

25th November

St Catherine’s Day

Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio (1598/99). Source: Wikipedia

Today is St Catherine’s Day. Catherine was an Egyptian Christian of Greek descent who was executed during the third century persecutions of Christians by the Roman Emperor Maxentius. According to the stories, the Emperor tried to make Catherine his wife and when she refused, he ordered her broken on a spiked wheel. Thanks to divine favour, Catherine survived the torture so the infuriated Maxentius had her beheaded instead. It is however likely that Catherine and her legend are a complete invention.

Catherine may have been fictitious, but she provided a handy Christian vehicle for the assimilation of sun-worshipping pagans into the new religion. Wheels wrapped in burning straw were a symbol of the various incarnations of the sun god and were rolled around the fields in late autumn to ensure the fertility of the crops in the following spring. The wheel that Catherine was tortured on transitioned into the sun god’s wheels, which, in turn, became the firework Catherine Wheels associated with the November bonfires.

During the festivities of St Catherine’s Day, a favourite game was that of the Cattern Candle. The Cattern was a lit two foot tall candle over which people were encouraged to jump. A man who successfully leapt over the candle would be blessed with good luck; a woman hoping for pregnancy, would be blessed with a child. The pagan fertility rite origins of this harmless piece of festive fun require little explanation. The game led to the Jack be nimble/ Jack be quick nursery rhyme and, by extension, the Rolling Stones’ track Jumping Jack Flash.

[illustratus]

Detail of Lucrezia Borgia as St Catherine, from Disputation of St Catherine of Alexandria

by Pinturicchio

[emvidal]

Tea at Trianon: St. Catherine of Alexandria and Hypatia

[chiakinanami82]

St Catherine of Alexandria

She’s witty, intelligent, well-spoken, organized, hardworking, and emotionally immature. She loves teaching, books, and cars.

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Italian master of the 17th century

The half portrait of the young woman in front of a dark background in elegant robes with a red cloak and a golden crown on her head, a reference to the fact that she was the daughter of King Costus and his wife Sabinella of Cyprus. She has shoulder-length curly hair and with her head held slightly up and the shiny brown eyes she looks up to the sky. With the delicate fingers of her left hand she touches a spiked wheel, her instrument of torture. Fine painting, especially of the flesh tones, with skilful staging of light and dark. She was sentenced to death by Emperor Maxentius because she refused to be dissuaded from the Christian faith.

[lionofchaeronea]

Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, Sofonisba Anguissola, 1588

[catholic-saint-tournament]

St Mary Magdalene, left; St Catherine, right

Round 3 results here