Saint Catherine of Alexandria
1490–1528
Medium
Pen and brown ink
Dimensions
6 1/2 x 2 15/16 in. (16.5 x 7.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1918
Accession Number
19.75
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Albrecht Dürer’s *Saint Catherine of Alexandria* captures the early Christian martyr in a delicate pen-and-brown-ink study created sometime between 1490 and 1528. Standing just over six inches tall, the diminutive drawing reflects Dürer’s lifelong fascination with female saints whose courage and intellect resonated with Renaissance humanists. Catherine, usually shown with her symbolic wheel of martyrdom, appears here in a gracefully elongated pose that emphasizes both her nobility and quiet resolve. Executed with fine, controlled hatching typical of Dürer’s graphic work, the drawing reveals t...
About the Artist
Albrecht Dürer · 1471–1528
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) stands as the preeminent figure of the Northern Renaissance and arguably the most influential artist in the history of printmaking. Born in Nuremberg on May 21, 1471, and dying in the same city on April 6, 1528, Dürer revolutionized the status of the artist in Northern Europe, transforming printmaking from a commercial craft into an independent fine art and establishing ...