The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine
c. 1500
Medium
engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 31.2 x 25.9 cm (12 5/16 x 10 3/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund
Accession Number
2010.112.1
Art Historical Context
Behold *The Martyrdom of Catherine*, a striking engraving by the enigmatic Master MZ, created around 1500. This anonymous German artist, active in the late Gothic to early Renaissance transition, signed works with his monogram "MZ," likely from Nuremberg. The print captures the dramatic torture and beheading of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a beloved 4th-century Christian martyr famed for her intellect and defiance against Emperor Maxentius. Such hagiographic scenes were immensely popular in Northern Europe, inspiring devotion among pilgrims and the faithful during a time of religious fervor ...
About the Artist
Master MZ · 1477–1525
The artist known as Master MZ is one of the most accomplished and enigmatic printmakers of the German Renaissance, active around the turn of the sixteenth century. The designation derives from the monogram MZ with which the artist signed a small but technically extraordinary group of engravings, and despite sustained scholarly inquiry, the individual behind these initials has never been conclusive...