Storie di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria - Giuseppe Scillia

According to you, why does S. Caterina involve the whole scene with such a haughty attitude?

Well you must know that this woman, faced the emperor Massenzio with bravery and firmness, since she was deeply Christian and he imposed Paganism in whole his empire.

Caterina was bothered and some day she went to the emperor court and started a debate regarding the importance of  the Christian culture.

If you observe  the index of her hand, you can perceive her willing to  make her values count, even in front of the philosophers. Among them, there is someone who shows interest and someone who seems skeptical, however, everybody is amazed by Caterina’s bravery. The woman succeded in her intent, since the philosophers convert themselves. But Massenzio sentences her to death.

In the upper painting you can see Caterina who is about to be beheaded. What sums up the woman’s personality well is her attitude towards the conviction: she seems to  turn a glance to the Lord, with her hands crossed on the breast, looking at the sky, with no worrying about her surroundings.

You are able to see an angel on the upper left, who makes us imagine the woman’s destiny: she will be saved, since she died as a martyr and became saint. But most of all, she left us a very significant message. What do you think It would be?