The daughter of King Constus, Catherine of Alexandria lived in the early 4th century and was a martyr for her Christian faith. Famous for her beauty, wisdom, eloquence and chastity, she is frequently depicted at the moment of her mystical union with Christ.

The center of the composition is the ring that the Christ child places on Catherine, who is shown in the sumptuous clothing and jewels that correspond to her lineage. Her sword and the angel’s palm branch allude to her martyrdom. Behind the main figures, Saint Francis and another friar witness the event. A capital and a fallen whip in the lower left corner evoke the Latin etymology of the martyr’s name, Catherina (ruin), implying that she destroyed what the devil sought to build. Those ruins also reflect the archeological knowledge this painter may have obtained through contact with the Duke of Buckingham, a great lover of art and antiquities.

Both infrared reflectography (images 2 and 3) and x-rays (image 4) reveal some changes made during the composition. At first, Van Dyck drew and began painting a male figure between the angel and the saint, and that same figure appears in various of his preparatory sketches on paper. On the canvas, however, he does not complete that figure, and eventually covers it with the sleeve of the angel’s robes. Less significant are the small modifications Van Dyck made in the figure of Saint Catherine, including her shirt sleeve and her left hand, which originally held the robes, creating a play of folds that was finally eliminated (Text drawn from Alba, L., Jover, M., Gayo, M. D.: "Introducción a los estudios técnicos: la práctica artística del joven Van Dyck", El joven Van Dyck, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2012).

This painting belonged to the Marquis of Leganés in the 17th century, and in 1745, it belonged to Queen Elizabeth of Farnesio.