Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, as St Catherine

Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria as St. Catherine (1639), painted near the end of Van Dyck's life, depicts Charles I's French-born queen in the guise of Saint Catherine of Alexandria — a convention that linked royal virtue with saintly example. Henrietta Maria (1609-1669) was a devoted Catholic in an officially Protestant court, and her identification with a martyred saint carried both devotional and political resonance. Van Dyck's portrait of the queen as Catherine combines realistic likeness with idealized beauty, creating an image that functions simultaneously as royal portrait, devotional painting, and aesthetic object. The queen's elaborate costume and the attributes of Saint Catherine — the wheel and palm of martyrdom — merge courtly splendor with religious symbolism.

The portrait combines the conventions of royal portraiture with the attributes of Saint Catherine. Van Dyck's refined palette and delicate handling create an image that balances regal dignity with saintly devotion.