Catharine of Alexandria

Catharine of Alexandria by Andrea Solari, dated around 1498 and now in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, depicts the early Christian martyr who was tortured on a spiked wheel (hence the 'Catherine wheel') before her execution. Catherine of Alexandria was one of the most popular saints in late medieval and Renaissance devotion — a virgin martyr of extraordinary learning who converted her executioners. Solari's version belongs to the Leonardesque tradition of female saint paintings that his exposure to Leonardo's Milan circle inspired: soft modeling, contemplative expression, the saint's beauty rendered as spiritual refinement rather than physical vanity. The Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan holds an exceptional collection of Lombard and Italian Renaissance paintings.

Oil on panel with Solari's Leonardesque approach to female figuration — the saint's features modeled with sfumato softness, her identifying attribute (the spiked wheel fragment, palm of martyrdom, or book of learning) rendered with precision that contrasts with the atmospheric treatment of flesh. The three-quarter pose typical of Solari's female saints gives the image meditative intimacy.