Saint Catherine (Master Theodoric)

Saint Catherine of Alexandria is an oil tempera on beech board painting by Bohemian Gothic painter Master Theodoric.

The whole group of saints, which is placed in the north-eastern niche of the presbytery in the Chapel of the Holy Cross, is characterised by the rich decoration of the drapery.

On a blue azurite ground, six-petalled flowers combined with stylized chrysanthemum are stencilled, accompanied by hand-painted trefoil leaves.

She also had a special personal significance for Charles IV, because on the feast day of St. Catherine, 25 November, he fought a victorious battle at the castle of San Felice in northern Italy in 1332 as a young 16-year-old royal.

In the richly decorated private oratory of Charles IV, adjacent to the Chapel of the Virgin Mary at Karlštejn, there is a mural of St Catherine on the right side of the altar mensa.