The Wheel and the Palm
Virgin martyrs carrying the instrument that killed them: Catherine's wheel, Barbara's tower, Lucy's eyes, Agnes's lamb.
The virgin martyrs carry the instrument of their own death: Catherine the spiked wheel, Barbara the tower she was shut in, Agnes a lamb for her name, Lucy her eyes on a dish, Apollonia the pincers that took her teeth, Cecilia an organ. The palm branch is common to all of them and marks martyrdom itself. In a group of saints the palm tells you what happened; the object tells you to whom.
The Ecstasy of Saint Catherine
Agostino Carracci
Saint Cecilia as a Lute Player
Artemisia Gentileschi
Saint Catherine of Alexandria (presumed self-portrait)
Barbara Longhi
Saint Barbara
Bartholomeus Spranger
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine
Bartolome Esteban Murillo
Young Woman as Saint Catherine
Bartolomeo Veneto
Saint Catherine
Bernardino Luini
Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Bernardo Strozzi
Willows and Farmhouses at Saint Catherine les Arras
Camille Corot
Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Caravaggio
Burial of Saint Lucy
Caravaggio
Martyrdom of Saint Ursula
Caravaggio
Saints Anthony and Lucia
Carlo Crivelli
Flower garland with Saint Catherine
Daniel Seghers
Saint Catherine
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The Miraculous Communion of Saint Catherine of Siena
Domenico Beccafumi
Saint Catherine of Siena receiving the stigmata between Saints Benedict and Jerome (detail)
Domenico Beccafumi
The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine
Domenico Beccafumi
Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata
Domenico Beccafumi
Stigmatization of Saint Catherine of Siena
Eduardo Rosales
Saint Ursula
Francisco de Zurbaran
Saint Cecilia of Rome
François-Joseph Navez
The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine
Gaspar de Crayer
Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Guido Reni
The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula and her companions at Cologne, from The Reliquary of St. Ursula
Hans Memling
The Departure of Saint Ursula from Basle, panel from The Reliquary of St. Ursula
Hans Memling
Saint Agnes
Jacek Malczewski
The Eve of Saint Agnes
John Everett Millais
Saint Cecilia
John William Waterhouse
Altar polyptych of San Bartolomeo, Bergamo, main panel: Enthroned Madonna with Angels and Saints - Alexander of Bergamo, Barbara, Roch, Dominic
Lorenzo Lotto
Enthroned Madonna with Angels and Saints, St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Augustine on the left, St. Sebastian and St. Anthony the Abbot on the right
Lorenzo Lotto
Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine of Siena
Lorenzo Lotto
The Roman Empress Faustina Visiting Saint Catherine of Alexandria in Prison
Mattia Preti
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine with Saint Joseph in attendance
Onorio Marinari
Saint Catherine
Onorio Marinari
Saints Cecilia, Valerianus and Tiburtius
Orazio Gentileschi
Saint Cecilia Playing the Spinnet
Orazio Gentileschi
Holy Family with Saints Catherine of Alexandria and John the Baptist
Palma Vecchio
The Marriage of Saint Catherine
Paolo Veronese
The Martyrdom and Last Communion of Saint Lucy
Paolo Veronese
Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine
Parmigianino
Saint Catherine with a Lily
Plautilla Nelli
Virgin and Child, Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara
Quentin Matsys
St. Cecilia with Saints (detail)
Raphael
Saint Apollonia
Sassoferrato
Saint Cecilia
Sebastiano Conca