ACTIVE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 14TH CENTURY
THE MYSTIC MARRIAGE OF SAINT CATHERINE
Tempera and gold on panel, arched top, in an engaged frame
135.3 x 80.2 cm.; 53 1/4 x 31 5/8 in.
Private collection
This imposing painting once formed the centrepiece of a polyptych dedicated to Saint Catherine. It preserves in part its original frame with cusped arch. The lateral compartments remain untraced.
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine covers two different subjects in Christian art arising from visions received by either Saint Catherine of Alexandria or Saint Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), in which these virgin saints went through a mystical marriage wedding ceremony with Christ, in the presence of the Virgin Mary, consecrating themselves and their virginity to him.
The Catholic Encyclopaedia notes that such a wedding ceremony “is but the accompaniment and symbol of a purely spiritual grace”, and that “as a wife should share in the life of her husband, and as Christ suffered for the redemption of mankind, the mystical spouse enters into a more intimate participation in His sufferings.” Catherine of Alexandria was martyred, while Catherine of Siena received the stigmata…
Zaidan Gallery 
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