Like most children of my generation the fireworks that I knew included the Catherine Wheel. This spiral was pinned to a wooden post, the fuse was lit and the the wheel rotated rapidly under the power of the explosive until none was left. What I didn't know was that a Catherine Wheel was also the name of the breaking wheel on which, and with which, criminals were tortured and killed. In the early fourth century Catherine of Alexandria, a Christian, was martyred by this method on the orders of the emperor Maxentius. As Saint Catherine she became a venerated saint of the church, often depicted in paintings and stained glass. The medieval example above was photographed in the church at Deerhurst, Gloucestershire.
photo © T. Boughen Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10
