Marriage of St. Catherine

Painting from the museum’s collection depicts a scene from the life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria - mystical marriage with Jesus. The saint was born in Alexandria, Egypt, she was a Christian and the daughter of a king. She took a vow of chastity which she did not break even after the Emperor Maxentius had proposed to her. The emperor, offended by this refusal, sentenced her to torture and death. The verdict was also impacted by Catherine’s winning a religious dispute with fifty wisemen, some of whom she converted to Christianity, and the fact that she criticised the emperor’s conduct and convinced his wife to become a Christian. She was 18 years old when she died, and during the torture, when she was being broken on a wheel, she made the wheel break with her prayers (it is one of her attributes), as a result of which the torture was abandoned and she was beheaded. The scene depicted on the painting kept in Łańcut illustrates a vision of the saint, during which Our Lady appeared to her with the Infant Jesus and Saint Joseph, accompanied by angels. It was then that the mystical marriage took place - the Child put a ring with pearls and diamonds on the Saint’s finger, making her his bride, which caused her to take a vow of chastity. The saint is counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is considered the patron saint of, among others, philosophers, universities, teachers and Polish railwaymen. In the iconography, she is depicted wearing a crown, with the palm of martyrdom in her hand and a wheel for breaking bones (and sometimes also with, additionally, a book and a sword). She is also shown during her mystical marriage with Christ or in prison, in the presence of Christ. During Gothic and Renaissance, she often appears together with saints Barbara, Dorothy and Margaret. On the foreground of the painting kept in Łańcut, the artist placed a broken wheel as one of the saint’s attributes. The whole composition of the painting is diagonal, in the upper left corner you can see the open sky and little angels flying towards it. Unfortunately, the author is unknown. The painting dates back to the 18th century and can be assigned to the circle of Northern painting. It is exhibited in the Gala (Red) Corridor on the first floor of the castle.