Saint Catherine of Alexandria in Prison

A young woman in a rose-and-gold silk gown with a green velvet mantle stands within a dim stone cell, holding a palm frond in one hand. A white dove perches on her raised other hand, and her gaze turns upward toward it. Warm light falls on her face and fabric while the surrounding wall recedes into shadow, with a wooden block at the lower right.

Look closer: A small wooden wheel-like block and the wooden base sit low at the right edge, hinting at the saint's instrument of martyrdom.

Artist

Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari)

Date

ca. 1585

Medium

Oil on canvas

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

2966 × 4000 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Anonymous Gift, 1999