Of noble birth and learned in the sciences, when only eighteen years old, Catherine presented herself to the Emperor Maximinus who was violently persecuting the Christians, upbraided him for his cruelty and endeavoured to prove how iniquitous was the worship of false gods. Astounded at the young girl's audacity, but incompetent to vie with her in point of learning the tyrant detained her in his palace and summoned numerous scholars whom he commanded to use all their skill in specious reasoning that thereby Catherine might be led to apostatise. But she emerged from the debate victorious. Several of her adversaries, conquered by her eloquence, declared themselves Christians and were at once put to death. Furious at being baffled, Maximinus had Catherine scourged and then imprisoned. Meanwhile the empress, eager to see so extraordinary a young woman, went with Porphyry, the head of the troops, to visit her in her dungeon, when they in turn yielded to Catherine's exhortations, believed, were baptised, and immediately won the martyr's crown. Soon afterwards the saint, who far from forsaking her Faith, effected so many conversions, was condemned to die on the wheel, but, at her touch, this instrument of torture was miraculously destroyed. The emperor, enraged beyond control, then had her beheaded. So far the Acts of St. Catherine. (Catholic Encyclopedia)
The statue in Zurrieq was carved in wood by Mariano Gerada in 1818. It was guilded in 1825 and again in 1915. The bradella was made in Bolzano on designs by Manwel Buhagiar.
A very faithful miniature copy of the statue has been carved entirely by hand in lime wood by another sculptor from Bolzano in 2008. The statue is 60cm high. for more information please contact Martin Bezzina Wettinger by e-mail: bottegin@gmail.com
Links: www.stcatherineband.org.mt
