According to tradition, Catherine was a princess from Cyprus. She rejected all suitors, recognized Jesus Christ as the true bridegroom and travelled to Alexandria. There she refused to sacrifice to idols before the Roman Emperor Maxentius, who then had her martyred. Amongst other things, she was flogged and ultimately beheaded. The martyr is considered one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is the most important of the holy virgins. The following saying is popularly known: “Margaretha with the worm, Barbara with the tower, Katharina with the wheel, these are the three holy maidens”.

Numerous aspects are convincing of the rarity and museum quality of this highly significant figure. While sculptural representations of St. Catherine are common in the Gothic period, this sculpture from the Romanesque period is probably unique with such an early date around the middle of the 12th century and in this exceptionally good state of preservation. The oldest fresco depicting St. Catherine was created in the first half of the 8th century and the legends surrounding her were consolidated in the following century. In the 10th century she was included in the register of saints and in the 12th century she was considered the patron saint of the Crusaders, with further patronages being added in the 13th century, including that of virgins, wives, philosophers, teachers, printers, hospitals and libraries.

The museum figure is characterized in particular by its size of 99 cm and the chosen material. Romanesque figures made of wood are surprisingly rare in the Alpine region. While Romanesque fragments, reliefs and figures are often preserved in stone, this is a freestanding sculpture made of fine walnut wood, carved in the round. This emphasizes the all-round appearance of this extremely early depiction of Catherine. The sculpture stands upright and has long-limbed proportions and a towering stature. This is emphasized by the elongated, elegant neck and skilfully reflects the typical verticality of Romanesque sculptures. She is holding the chariot wheel in her angled left hand. With her right hand, she grasps the hilt of the long sword with a broad blade, the tip of which almost touches her foot. These are Catherine’s typical attributes as references to her martyrdom, whereby these unmistakable identifying features clearly identify the depiction as Saint Catherine.

A broad crown ring sits on Catherine’s oval head, identifying her as the king’s daughter. Beneath it, crinkly, wavy hair appears, falling gently down and perfectly framing the prominent, convex face with its small ears. The high forehead reflects a particular ideal of beauty, according to which women shaved off the hair above the forehead in order to achieve a higher hairline. The extremely symmetrical face is characterized by sharply furrowed eyebrow ridges that run into a prominent nose with a straight nasal bridge. The elongated philtrum ends in a mouth contorted into a mischievous smile and a small chin with a central dimple. Katharina’s expressive eyes are particularly captivating: the close-set, deep-set, almond-shaped eyes with pronounced upper and lower lids make her look particularly alert and proud. At the same time, her face takes on a youthful, majestic liveliness that gives the viewer pause.

The martyr’s luxurious clothing also emphasizes her importance: a heavy cloak with a turned-up collar flows down her body to her knees and is held together over her chest by a large diamond-shaped brooch that is reminiscent of Roman brooches. The dress underneath also falls in thick, diagonal folds to the edge of the floor. Katharina wears simple pointed shoes that peek out from under the fabric. The interplay of the drapery is exciting here: while the upper garment lies against the body in a pasty, tight-fitting manner, the more voluminous undergarment contrasts with deeper parallel folds, which lend the figure a corporeal quality. This forms a compositional counterpoint to the elongated upper body and the expansive left hand presenting the attribute to the viewer. The folds also playfully emphasize certain features of the figure, such as the flat diagonal fold over the chest, which directs the viewer’s gaze to the outstretched left hand, or the pleated puff directly below, which is directed in the opposite direction and frames Catherine’s right hand, thus emphasizing the second attribute.

The Romanesque period is characterized by a high degree of stylization in the figures, although this Catherine is also clearly stylistically rooted in the era in its overall conception. The elongated proportions do not reflect realism, but a perspective of meaning. In contrast to the body, the head is usually depicted larger, whereby this is part of the archaic posture and facial expression, which show a recourse to late antique and Byzantine models. The symbolic, unambiguous depiction with an emphasis on the central attributes for easy recognition as well as a surface-like treatment of the surfaces, for example on the cloak, are further typical features of the Romanesque period. French sculpture from the second quarter of the 12th century and western Alpine sculpture provide good comparisons. The relief of the Last Judgement on the west tympanum of Saint-Lazare Cathedral in Autun, Burgundy, by the sculptor Gislebertus, who created it around 1120-35, is a good comparison. Similar features are the parallel, downward-running folds of the bowl that lie close to the body and the doughy drapery. An extremely impressive comparison is shown by a group of figures of the Holy Family in stone relief from the period between 1100 and 1150, which has been preserved on the façade of the Maria Schnee pilgrimage church in Obermauern in East Tyrol. There is a striking similarity in Mary’s physiognomy due to the accentuated almond-shaped eyes and the vertical nose-mouth axis with a central dimple. Furthermore, the fleshy bowl folds on the side and the diagonal longitudinal folds above the Madonna’s feet are closely related to St. Catherine.

The original polychrome painting of the sculpture is also remarkable. Until the late Gothic period, sculptors were also barrel painters who painted and gilded their carved figures themselves. The three predominant colors – the blue of the outside of the cloak, the green of the inside of the cloak and the red of the dress – can be named after the color nuances correspond to the theory of chemistry: The blue color is probably mountain blue or azure blue, the green probably originated from Tyrolean green earth and the red was most likely made from bright cinnabar. The blue pigment is obtained from azurite and is considered one of the most important and most expensive pigments of all, as lapis lazuli had to be imported from Afghanistan. The pigment of the regionally different green earth was already used in ancient times, mainly for wall paintings. Cinnabar or cinnabarite was used thousands of years before the birth of Christ and is particularly impressive due to its opacity and luminosity, which is also clearly expressed in this sculpture.

These symbolic colors were not chosen by chance. From the 12th century onwards, the divine blue associated with heaven was considered the color of chastity and therefore particularly the color of Mary, who from this time onwards often wore a blue cloak over a red dress. As a result, this depiction of Catherine also seems to be based on the popular Marian color scheme. The red is an expression of the symbolism of power that was adopted from late antiquity. It is also often seen as the color of martyrdom. The green here could symbolize love and hope. These splendid colors were particularly vibrant in combination with the gilded brooch and the oil-gilded hair, remnants of which have also been preserved.

Overall, this highly museum-quality sculpture bears witness to a majestic, self-confident pose, exceptionally well-preserved wood with traces of the original polychromy and a lovely expressiveness that lends this Romanesque sculpture a supple grace and makes it appear alive to the viewer.