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Cretan Dalmatian School, 17th century, Marriage of St. Catherine

About the Item

Cretan Dalmatian school, 17th century Marriage of St. Catherine Oil on panel, 52 x 60 cm Framed, 40 x 49 cm The oil on panel painting we describe here shows the Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria, a famous episode in Christian art in which the saint becomes the bride of Christ following a dream in which the child appears to her in the arms of Our Lady to place the wedding ring on her finger. The symbol of martyrdom, namely the cogwheel, again confirms the identity of the woman kneeling on the left as she receives the ring while the lamb and the staff with scroll make us identify as St. John the child who approaches Our Lady handing her a basket with apples, to be interpreted perhaps as a symbol of original sin. The school of painting to which the panel belongs is the Cretan Dalmatian school, formed in the wake of the Byzantine tradition and later merged with the influences of Venetian art through the Serenissima's control of Crete and the Dalmatian coast; moreover, during the 16th century dead artists, such as El Greco, moved from these places to the lagoon city in search of greater notoriety and larger commissions. The period in which this panel was made would thus fit at least into the next century, because of the remarkable consonances of the subject's layout with the Venetian tradition: the rustic landscape background, the green drape behind the Virgin, and the intense use of colors without rigorous patterning.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 20.48 in (52 cm)Width: 23.63 in (60 cm)Depth: 0.79 in (2 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
    Wood,Oiled
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
    Mid-17th Century
  • Date of Manufacture:
    XVII Century
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Milan, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU5918245089072

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