The refined gold-ground panel painting depicting Saint Catherine of Alexandria with a donor in prayer, attributed to the great Florentine painter Bernardo Daddi, was painted around the mid-14th century and originally adorned the first pillar to the right of the entrance to the Cathedral.
The cusped panel features in the tympanum a cloverleaf-shaped inset with Christ in Blessing at the center; in the main panel appears the figure of Saint Catherine, virgin and martyr, who lived in Alexandria of Egypt between the late 3rd and early 4th century.
According to legend the daughter of King Costus, the saint is depicted standing and front-facing, her serene face framed by an elegantly gathered hairstyle and topped with a refined crown. She wears a pink gown and a mantle of the same color, both richly decorated in gold. At her feet, beneath a fold of the mantle lined with vair, she shelters the unknown donor, shown kneeling in prayer, in profile, and at a smaller scale, dressed in contemporary clothing.
The Medici coats of arms, visible below, appear to be a later addition and are unlikely to be connected to the identity of the devout commissioner.
Behind the saint, the toothed wheels can be seen—an instrument of torture to which, according to legend, she was bound but which she miraculously broke. In her right hand she holds the palm of martyrdom, while in her left she holds a book, symbol of her Christian wisdom, with which—according to hagiographic tradition—she triumphed in disputation over the pagan scholars of Emperor Maxentius’s court. For this reason, she is venerated as the patron saint of students and teachers.