Hl. Katharina (Werkstatt, Hans Siebenbürger)

Hans Pleydenwurff's Saint Catherine (Workshop, Hans Siebenbürger) documents the collaborative production methods of Nuremberg altarpiece workshops in the third quarter of the fifteenth century. Catherine of Alexandria, the learned virgin martyr who defeated fifty philosophers in debate before her execution, was among the most popular saints in late medieval devotional painting. The attribution to Pleydenwurff's workshop with participation by Hans Siebenbürger reflects the normal practice of major altarpiece commissions where the master's design was executed with workshop assistance, here identified by art historical analysis of stylistic differences.

Executed with skilled technique and attention to careful observation, the work reveals Hans Pleydenwurff's characteristic approach to composition and surface. The treatment of light and the careful modulation of color create visual richness within a unified pictorial scheme.