The Head of Saint Catherine of Siena

Saint Catherine died in Rome on 29 April 1380 and was buried in the Dominican church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where most of her body still lies beneath the high altar. But the people of Siena wanted their saint at home. A few years after her death, her confessor and biographer, Blessed Raymond of Capua, then Master of the Dominican Order, had her head separated from the body and secretly taken to Siena.

A story tells that the bag carrying it was stopped by guards at the city gates. As the bearers prayed to Catherine, the guards opened the bag and found nothing but rose petals. When they had passed, the relic was there once more.

In 1385 the head was carried into Siena in a triumphal procession and placed in the great brick church of San Domenico, where Catherine had prayed as a young woman among the Mantellate. Her mother, Lapa, was still alive to see it. Today the head rests in a gilded reliquary in the chapel dedicated to her, whose walls were frescoed by Sodoma with scenes of her life. The church also keeps her thumb.

The photograph shows the head of the saint carried through Siena in procession.

Where

Basilica of San Domenico, Chapel of Saint Catherine, Siena, Italy

When to see it

Displayed in a reliquary above the altar of her chapel, and carried through the city in procession on her feast days.

Map

Find it on OpenStreetMap

Read about

Saint Catherine of Siena