Ikonographie und Kult der hl. Katharina von Alexandrien im Mittelalter

This interdisciplinary study focusses on the narrative
representations of the legend of Saint Catherine of Alexandria
during the Middle Ages, the scope reaching from the earliest known
images in the 8th century until ca. 1500. Based on a collection of
176 pictorial cycles of the Vita Sanctae Catharinae, as well as 163
isolated scenes and 52 early representations of the saint as a
standing figure, the development of the iconography is being
retraced in relation to contemporary texts of the saint's legend
and locations of special veneration for Saint Catherine. In-depth
analyses cover: a) the emergence of the saint's legend and its
dissemination until the appearance of the first pictorial
representations, b) the development of the legend until 1500, c)
the various types of iconographic formulations of specific scenes
and the question of an "archetype cycle" d) the new aspects
introduced to the legend by the mystic marriage (the so called
"sposalizio mistico") of Saint Catherine and the development of the
iconography of this pictorial theme, e) the pictorial
representations of Saint Catherine's childhood in the 15th century,
f)late medieval characteristics of Catherine pictures such as
mass-production and images in books of hours. A main benefit of
this study lies in the second, the catalogue volume, where all the
picture cycles, isolated images and images of the standing saint
are described in detail. Documented are also almost 750 textual
records and evidence of liturgical and public devotion to Saint
Catherine such as church or altar dedications and relics.