Spanish school; late eighteenth century."Saint Catherine of Alexandria".Oil on canvas. Relined.Presents Spanish frame with faults of the mid-nineteenth century.Measurements: 52 x 40 cm; 84 x 54 cm (frame).The work presents a great break of glory on which stands out the figure of the portrayed, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a lady dressed with jewels and fine features that diverts her gaze to the right area of the composition. Her fine gestures attract attention, and she manages to highlight her distinctive attributes, such as the palm of martyrdom or the queen's crown.The cult of St. Catherine of Alexandria was widespread throughout Europe from the 6th century onwards, she is included in the group of the holy helpers and is invoked against sudden death. Catherine was born around 290 into a noble family of Alexandria. Endowed with a great intelligence, she soon stood out for her extensive studies, which placed her on the same level as the greatest poets and philosophers of the time. One night Christ appeared to her and she decided, at that moment, to consecrate her life to him and to consider herself his fiancée, in a sort of mystical marriage. When Emperor Maximian came to Alexandria to preside over a great pagan feast, Catherine took the opportunity to try to convert him to Christianity, which aroused his anger. To test her, Maximian imposed on her a philosophical debate with fifty wise men whom she would try to convert. Catherine succeeded, provoking the emperor's wrath. The emperor had the sages executed, but not before proposing to the saint that she marry one of them, to which she flatly refused. The emperor then ordered her to be tortured using a machine with spiked wheels. Miraculously, the wheels broke when they touched Catherine's body, so she finally had to be beheaded. Although her historical existence was questioned by the Catholic Church since 1961, considering her a literary creation as a Christian counterpoint to the great pagan philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, she remains inscribed in the Roman martyrology freed from legendary narratives.