06 works, Today, November 17th, is the 50 philosophers converted by St. Katherine's day, their story illustrated #320

German School

Detail; Saint Katherine of Alexandria and the Conversion of the Philosophers Who Are Burned Immediately before Saint Catherine's Imprisonment, c. 16th C

Oil on panel

H 69 x W 56 cm

Fairfax House, Castlegate, York, North Yorkshire, England

Katherine of Alexandria is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. She was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity and was martyred around the age of 18. 

Katherine was the daughter of Constus, the governor of Alexandria during the reign of the emperor Maximian (286–305). From a young age she devoted herself to study. A vision of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus persuaded her to become a Christian.

Juan de Borgoña the Younger (Spanish, b. ca. 1500–1565)

Saint Catherine before the Emperor Maxentius

Oil on Panel

83.7 x 61.4 cm. (33 x 24.2 in.)

Private collection

Juan de Borgoña the Younger (Spanish, b. ca. 1500–1565) was a follower and disciple of his father, Juan de Borgoña, has been identified by Díaz Padrón as the Master of Pozuelo and of Toro, active in Toledo between 1533 and 1565. After studying with his father, a great master of the same name, he began work at an unknown date in his prosperous workshop. Due to the lack of documentary information about his career, his biography has been reconstructed on the basis of works previously attributed to unknown Castilian masters. He is known to have completed several projects that his father left unfinished at death and he remained quite close to his stylistic approach. He took no part in the realism practiced by other Castilian artists in his time, remaining faithful to the formal ideal of cool colors and the supremacy of drawing. More on Juan de Borgoña the Younger

At this time the emperor Maximinus was himself in Alexandria for a pagan feast day and ordered its citizens to offer a sacrifice to the idols. Katherine refused and the emperor sought her conversion. Because of her God-given wisdom the emperor was unable to persuade her.

Afraid to be overcome and put to shame by the maiden’s bold and wise words, the Emperor replied, "It is not proper for the Emperor to dispute with women. Instead, I will assemble learned philosophers to debate you. Thus you will learn how groundless are your speculations and accept our beliefs."

German School

Saint Catherine of Alexandria and the Conversion of the Philosophers Who Are Burned Immediately before Saint Catherine's Imprisonment, c. 16th C

Oil on panel

H 69 x W 56 cm

Fairfax House, Castlegate, York, North Yorkshire, England

South German School, early 16th century. The changes experienced in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries were nowhere more strongly felt than in German-speaking lands. There the revolutions of printing and the Protestant Reformation were first unleashed. And it was a German artist, Albrecht Dürer, who introduced the art of Renaissance Italy to northern Europe. As France, England, and Spain coalesced around strong dynasties into powerful nations, Germany remained a political mosaic of small, independent states under the aegis of the Holy Roman Emperor. Yet it sustained a strong sense of national identity, and this was reflected in the distinctive character of German art.

At the beginning of the fifteenth century, German artists, like those all across Europe, created delicate courtly art in what is now known as the International Style. This was marked by long graceful figures, richly patterned surfaces, gold decoration, and a preference for abstract ornamentation over realism. By about 1450, influenced by painting in the Netherlands, German artists adopted a more naturalistic style. In general, however, their work remained more expressive than their neighbor's. German painters tended to emphasize line and pattern over three-dimensional form. They juxtaposed strong contrasts of color and continued to use gold backgrounds long after they became old fashioned elsewhere. German altarpieces often included painted and gilded sculpture, increasing the theatricality of the sacred scenes. All these qualities pitched art to a high emotional key, one well suited to the German religious experience, which had been heavily influenced by the mysticism of such preachers as Meister Eckehart beginning in the 1300s. More on the German School, early 16th century

The Emperor commanded that the holy virgin be kept under close guard and immediately sent the following decree to every city in his dominions: "The Emperor Maxentius to all the learned philosophers and orators in the lands under my rule: Hail! Come to me, all you who serve the most wise god Hermes and call upon the Muses as patrons of erudition, and stop the mouth of a certain learned maiden who has appeared as of late and mocks our gods, calling their histories myths and fables. Come, that you may display your knowledge of the wisdom of the ancients, be acclaimed by men, and receive from me gifts as rewards for your labors!"

Fifty chosen rhetoricians, skilled in debate and mighty in declamation, assembled in Alexandria.

Unknown artist

A great multitude of people assembled in the arena

I have no further description, at this time

The Emperor straightway ordered that the saint be brought before him, and a great multitude of people assembled in the arena, eager to witness the debate. Before the messengers arrived, the archangel Michael came from heaven and said to the saint, "Fear not, O maiden chosen by the Lord! The Lord shall add to your wisdom even greater wisdom, and you will prevail in debate over fifty orators."

 Masolino da Panicale, 1425-31

St. Katherine and the Philosophers

Castiglione chapel in the Basilica of St Clement in Rome

St. Katherine calmly counts off her reasons for believing the Christian faith, as the philosophers look in confusion in different directions. 

Masolino da Panicale (born 1383, Panicale, near Perugia, Romagna—died probably 1440–47, Florence) was a painter who achieved a compromise between the International Gothic manner and the advanced early Renaissance style of his own day and who owes his prominence in the history of Florentine art not to his innovations but to his lyrical style and his unfailing artistry.

In 1423, Masolino joined the Florentine guild Arte dei Medici e Spezial, which included painters as an independent branch He spent many years traveling, including a trip to Hungary from September 1425 to July 1427. He was selected by Pope Martin V, on the return of the papacy to Rome in 1420, to paint the altarpiece for his family chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and later by Cardinal Branda da Castiglione to paint the Saint Catherine Chapel in the Basilica of San Clemente, Rome. In the interim, he collaborated with his younger colleague, Masaccio, to paint the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, which were much admired by fellow artists throughout the fifteenth century. He painted a cycle of 300 famous historical figures in the Orsini Palace in Rome about 1433-4 and also worked in Todi. He spent his later years, after 1435, working for Cardinal Branda Castiglione in Castiglione Olona. More on Masolino da Panicale

After hearing the wise Katherine say her piece and much else besides, the philosophers were amazed and fell silent. The Emperor saw that his champion had been vanquished and left speechless, and commanded the other rhetoricians to enter into dispute with the holy virgin, but they refused, saying, "We are unable to withstand the truth. If the most learned of our number was overcome and silenced, what can we hope to accomplish?"

Unknown artist

Emperor was moved to wrath

I have no further description, at this time

The Emperor was moved to wrath and ordered that a great fire be prepared in the middle of the city to burn alive all the philosophers and orators. When they learned of the sentence pronounced upon them, they fell at the saint’s feet, beseeching her to pray for them to the one true God so that He might forgive them the sins they had committed in ignorance and deem them worthy of Holy Baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Henri Lehmann, (b. 1814, Kiel, d. 1882, Paris)

St. Catherine being carried to Mt. Sinai, c. 1839

Oil on canvas

152 x 262 cm

Musée Fabre, Montpellier

Henri Lehmann (14 April 1814 – 30 March 1882) was a German-born French historical painter and portraitist. In the Duchy of Holstein, he received his first art tuition from his father Leo Lehmann (1782–1859) and from other painters in Hamburg. In 1831, at the age of 17, he travelled to Paris to study art under Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, becoming one of his most accomplished pupils and a close associate for many years. His first exhibition was at the Salon in 1835 where he won a second-class medal. Thereafter he exhibited regularly at the Salon, winning first-class medals in 1840, 1848 and 1855.

Lehmann lived in Rome from 1838–41, where he continued his artistic education with Ingres (who was by then Director of the Académie de France there), and collaborated with him on some works—including Ingres' painting Luigi Cherubini and the Muse of Lyric Poetry. In Rome Lehmann befriended Franz Liszt and his lover, the author Marie d'Agoult, corresponding with them for many years and painting portraits of them.

Lehmann settled permanently in Paris in 1842. He was awarded many commissions for large-scale public works, such as at the Hôtel de Ville, the Church of Ste-Clothilde, the Palais du Luxembourg, the Palais de Justice, and the Chapel of the Jeunes Aveugles in the Church of Saint-Merri on Rue Saint-Martin. He went on to paint portraits of many well-known and distinguished people of the day including Charles Gounod, Victor Cousin, Liszt, Chopin, Stendhal, the Princess Christina Belgiojoso and many others.

In 1846 Lehmann received the Légion d'honneur and in 1847 became a French citizen, opening his studio in that same year. In 1861 he became a teacher at the famous École des Beaux-Arts and was appointed Professor in 1875. He founded the Lehmann Prize to recognise academic excellence in art. In 1864 he was elected a member of the Institut de France. More Lehmann

That evening, pious Christians collected their bodies, which remained whole: even their hair was untouched by the fire. More on the 50 philosophers

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