Catherine of Alexandria is seated on a throne holding a book, while Noferi de’ Bischeri, the patron of the painting, and his two sons kneel before her in veneration. The eight surrounding scenes recount the life of a woman who rose above traditional roles to confront the Roman Emperor Maxentius’ persecution of Christians. The first two scenes show her debating the Emperor and a group of philosophers. Through eloquence and sound arguments, all fifty philosophers were converted to Christianity and ordered to be put to death by Maxentius. Panels four through eight show the three attempts at killing St Catherine: imprisonment and starvation, the spiked wheel, and finally beheading. In whole, the painting displays both a remarkable life given for the faith, and the esteem she was held in for generations after her death.