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Description: | St Catherine of Alexandria, a popular saint across Italy, was a learned virgin who effectively argued against the paganism of the Roman emperor Maxentius. Maxentius summoned fifty philosophers to defend his stance, but she converted them to Christianity along with the emperor's wife and two hundred soldiers, all of whom as a result were put to death. Catherine was sentenced to be killed on a spiked wheel, but was miraculously freed and finally beheaded. Luini was a leading Milanese artist whose first signed works are dated to 1507. He was chiefly influenced by Leonardo da Vinci, so much so that several of his works were previously attributed to Leonardo. Here the androgynous angels and downward looking oval face of the saint are typically Leonardesque. This composition exists in a number of versions but it is not clear which may be the original conception of the artist, especially since Luini controlled a large workshop. | Subjects: | religion (St Catherine) | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Luini, Bernardino (Italian painter and draftsman, ca. 1480-ca. 1532) Æ After Previously attributed to Italian (Milanese) School | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=9189... | Go to resource |
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