Rare carved ivory diptych depicting the Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine on the left panel and St. Catherine of Alexandria with St. Martha on the right panel; under a triple arcature with gables and hooks, diamond-shaped background. Lower Rhine, circa 1340-1360 H. 7.3 cm - closed W. 4.3 cm - open W. 8.7 cm - D. 53.4 g (slight cracks) This diptych, dedicated to the figure of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, illustrates on the left side the saint's union with Christ. Having refused to marry Emperor Maxentius because she had decided to devote herself to Christ, Catherine receives a nuptial ring from the Infant Jesus. Saint Catherine of Alexandria died a martyr, tortured on a wheel. The Emperor, trying to convince her to marry him, sends her philosophers and scholars. In an intellectual joust, the latter finally converted to the saint's arguments. The emperor then condemned them to death, some by fire, others on the wheel. This depiction is extremely rare on ivory leaves. The diamond-shaped background is also an original feature of a leaf in the collections of the Historisches Museum, Basel, incorporated into a sundial bearing the date 1578.