DÜRER Albrecht (1471 - 1528) - "The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine". c.1498. Woodcut. Signed with the artist's monogram at the bottom of the composition. References: Bartsch, n°120. Meder, n°236. Hollstein, no. 236. Proof of a late print, on laid paper (the wood has been in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, since 1921). Covered on the verso with a peddler's stamp. Margins. Saint Catherine of Alexandria was one of the most venerated saints of Dürer's time. Condemned to torture and death by Emperor Maxentius, she was saved by a rain of fire that destroyed the wheel on which she was to be tied. Although spared by her fate, she is finally beheaded. In this composition, Dürer merges the two scenes of her martyrdom, the destruction of the wheel by divine intervention and her death. The scene of chaos and destruction caused by the fiery rain, very reminiscent of the catastrophic events of the Apocalypse, is juxtaposed with the serene figure of the Saint kneeling before her executioner, calmly awaiting her death. 45 x 32 cm. Condition B (slight traces of insolation, small folds in the margins, rare light foxing mainly on the reverse, very slight trace of an old horizontal fold visible on the reverse).