Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata

Which Catherine this is

Two saints named Catherine are constantly confused, and their attributes are the way to keep them apart. Catherine of Alexandria carries a broken wheel, a sword and a palm. Catherine of Siena wears the Dominican habit — white with a black cloak — and is given a lily, a crown of thorns, and the stigmata, the wounds corresponding to those of the crucified Christ. The title recorded here names the second Catherine and names her defining episode, so there is no ambiguity to resolve.

What the record holds

The catalogue dates the work to 1513 and gives the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles as the collection. No dimensions are recorded. It is filed under group portraiture and religious cultural heritage, with High Renaissance as the style and Italian as the nationality; the measured colour family of the image is ochre.

Stigmata, and who is allowed them

The stigmata are the identifying mark of Francis of Assisi before they are anyone else's, and their appearance on a second saint is a claim within the tradition rather than a neutral fact — it was disputed between religious orders for centuries. The record indexes the subject without adjudicating it, and neither does this page. What can be said is that the attribute, once granted, does the same work here as anywhere: it names her on sight.