Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

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Title: St. Barbara and St. Catherine
Creator: Hausbuchmeister, painter
Description: St. Catherine and St. Barbara were often depicted together as representions of the active life (Barbara) and the contemplative (Catherine). According to tradition, Catherine was a fourth-century Alexandrian princess who converted to Christianity. The emperor Maxentius fell in love with her, but she refused to acquiesce to his demands and stated that she would be a bride to Christ alone. The emperor called on fifty of his philosophers to convince her to renounce Christianity, but Catherine converted them all. Maxentius condemned Catherine to to death on the wheel, but God miraculously destroyed it. The emperor had Catherine beheaded instead. Here she holds a martyr's palm frond as well as her specific attributes: a wheel and a sword. Barbara was the beautiful daughter of a rich pagan man who locked her in a tower to shield her from the world. She somehow managed to encounter Christianity, and was baptized. Her father discovered this when she insisted that the tower should have three windows in honor of the Trinity. Ultimately her father beheaded her for her conversion. Here she holds a martyr's palm as well as her specific attributes: a tower with three windows.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Rights: Public Domain
Subject (See Also): Barbara, Martyr, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Martyr, Saint Hagiography Martyrs
Geographic Area: Germany
Century: 15
Date: ca. 1485-1490
Related Work:
Current Location: Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Rijkspretenkabinet, inv. No. RP-P-OB-907/ 908
Original Location:
Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Prints
Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Drypoint
Donor:
Height/Width/Length(cm): 12 cm (Barbara); 11.9 cm (Catherine)/4 cm (Barbara); 3.8 cm(Catherine)/
Inscription:
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