Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine with Saint Augustin and Saint Jerome

The Christ Child, standing in Mary’s lap, attentively and lovingly places the ring on the finger of Saint Catherine, who kneels before him in princely attire. On the left, Saint Augustine, wearing episcopal vestments, and on the right, Saint Jerome, shown as a cardinal and holding a model of a church in his hand, assist at the scene. Behind them are a cloud-streaked sky and the buildings of a settlement on a hillside.

Until now the painting has been attributed to an unknown follower of Bonifazio Veronese, but neither in Bonifazio’s work nor among his followers do we find an example of such an archaizing, symmetrical composition. In its structure, the painting still preserves the traditions of the Bellini school; only the manner of painting and the figure types belong to the Cinquecento. The minor master who painted the picture executed his work with a pedantic linearity, rather than with the loose brushwork he presumably intended. A direct influence can be identified in only one detail: in the rendering of Saint Catherine, who resembles the female saints of Moretto da Brescia.

As a whole, the painting can most convincingly be compared with certain works by Girolamo da Santacroce, who was of Bergamasque origin and whose activity in Venice is documented from 1503 until his death in 1556; for example, the Madonna with Four Saints and a Donor in the collection of the Accademia dei Concordi in Rovigo.

Vilmos Tátrai, 1993.

Provenance

Simor collection. Purchased from the Bertinelli estate in Rome in 1878.

Restauration

1916 Endrődy Sebestyén

Bibliography

• Sallay Dóra: Raffaele Bertinelli és reneszánsz képtára. Egy műgyűjtemény útja Rómától Esztergomig. Esztergom, 2009, kat. sz. XXXVIII.
• Tátrai Vilmos, in Keresztény Múzeum 1993, 238, 119. sz., korábbi irodalommal (velencei festô, leginkább Girolamo da Santacroce egyes munkáival vethető össze)
• Heinemann 1962–1991, III (1991), 59, S.459bis kat. sz. (Vincenzo de Vecchi, tévesen vászonnak írja le)
• Boskovits–Mojzer–Mucsi 1964, 88, korábbi irodalommal (Bonifazio de Pitati da Verona, azaz Bonifacio Veronese követôje)
• Gerevich szerk. 1948, 63, korábbi irodalommal (Francesco Bissolo)
• Berti Toesca 1932, 957 (Bonifazio Veronese középszerû követôje)
• Gerevich 1928, 238 (Francesco Bissolo)
• Rényi 1879, 14 (ua.)
• Maszlaghy 1878 és 1891, 68. sz. (Palma Vecchio)