Detail of St. Catherine Disputing and Two Donors by Cenni di Francesco in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2014

Title: Saint Catherine Disputing and Two Donors

Artist: Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni (Italian, Florence, active by 1369–died 1415)

Date: possibly ca. 1380

Medium: Tempera on wood, gold ground

Dimensions: Overall, with engaged frame, 22 3/4 x 18 1/4 in. (57.8 x 46.4 cm); painted surface 21 1/4 x 16 3/4 in. (54 x 42.5 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Bequest of Jean Fowles, in memory of her first husband, R. Langton Douglas, 1981

Accession Number: 1982.35.1

A princess of great learning and beauty, Saint Catherine of Alexandria (fourth century) was challenged to a debate with fifty pagan orators, all of whom she converted to Christianity. Here she counts off the points of her dispute to two men who wear haloes as an indication of their conversion by her arguments (and future martyrdom by Emperor Maxentius). Two diminutive donors wearing the habits of Franciscan tertiaries kneel at the left. The painting dates to about 1380.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435863