Many will visit the well on this cold, bright day, the waters of the harbour below placid in the sunshine.

St Catherine of Alexandria came to the TV screen last month when next door’s king and queen visited the Sistine Chapel for a prayer service.

Whether they noticed St Catherine in her green robes above their heads we don’t know.

Michaelangelo painted nude figures in the frescoes, as he wished to indicate that they had been Divinely created. Come the Reformation, the figures were considered to be obscene, and the Pope of the day ordered them to be clothed. Another artist painted a copy of the Last Judgement before the covering took place, so the original state of the figures can be seen.

The frescoes were cleaned and restored in the 1990s, and most of the covering was removed, but not all.

Some of those still covered are St Peter, St Bartholemew, and St Catherine.

Staying with the Italian theme, here is a picture of the Eremo di Santa Catarina del Sasso (St Catherine’s Hermitage on Lake Maggiore).

This tradition is that this Hermitage was founded by a rich merchant who was saved through the intercession of St Catherine when he was caught in a storm, on Lake Maggiore. There are versions of this story told about St Catherine’s Well in Killybegs, but they can be regarded as a kind of universal tradition, and not necessarily true.

Many artists have painted St Catherine. Here is a picture by a German artist.

The Beheading of St Catherine of Alexandria by Lucas Cranac the Elder