Legend: St. Catherine rejected many
offers of marriage. She was transported to heaven in vision and
betrothed to Christ
by the Virgin Mary. See
The Holy Family with Saints
Anne and Catherine of Alexandria, José de
Ribera 1648 at the Metropolitan in New York;
Saint Catherine Tended
by the Angels and Visited by the Queen,
French, Paris, about 1420, at
the Getty Museum;
and online
Titian: St.
Catherine at Prayer .
Legend: Catherine (literally 'the pure one') was condemned to death on the breaking wheel, that it broke when she touched it, so she was beheaded. Both symbols, the wheel and sword, are associated with Saint Catherine, as portrayed on the crest of Altena.
Attributes: sword, crown, palm, wheel, and book.
Places:
