Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Unknown Artist
early 15th century
Medium
Gold, ronde-basse enamel, jewels
Dimensions
Overall (without wooden base): 3 7/8 x 2 1/8 x 1 1/8 in. (9.8 x 5.4 x 2.8 cm) Overall (with wooden base): 4 13/16 x 2 3/16 x 1 in. (12.3 x 5.5 x 2.6 cm) Base (wooden): 1 1/8 x 1 x 2 3/16 in. (2.9 x 2.6 x 5.5 cm) Base (Marble): 1 3/4 x 1 3/8 x 2 15/16 in. (4.4 x 3.5 x 7.4 cm)
Classification
Enamels-Ronde Bosse
Culture
French
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.190.905
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This small sculpture presents Saint Catherine of Alexandria as a serene female figure fashioned in white enamel with rich gold accents. She wears a jeweled crown set with pearls and colored stones, and her robes are edged in gold while she holds a delicate wheel, also encrusted with gems. The figure rests on a dark wooden base, its compact form highlighting the smooth enamel surfaces and the sparkling play of light across the jewels. Created in France during the early fifteenth century by an unknown artist, the work belongs to the rare category of ronde-basse enamel, a technique that allowed sculptural detail in the round. Such devotional objects were prized for their precious materials and intimate scale, serving both as aids to prayer and as demonstrations of refined craftsmanship in medieval courts. The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired this piece as a gift from J. Pierpont Morgan in 1917, preserving a fine example of French medieval enamelwork for visitors today.