The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine by Barna da Siena in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, June 2010

The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine
about 1340
Barna da Siena, Italian (Sienese), active about 1330–1350

Dimensions: 138.7 x 111.1 cm (54 5/8 x 43 3/4 in.)

Medium or Technique: Tempera on panel

Classification: Paintings
Type: Religious - Saints; Post-New Testament

Accession Number: 15.1145

The legendary Saint Catherine of Alexandria had a vision in which Christ took her as his spiritual bride, placing a ring on her finger. Here, the union symbolized by this gesture is echoed in two smaller scenes below: Jesus flanked by his mother and his grandmother, Saint Anne; and two enemies reconciled by an archangel, embracing after casting away their weapons. The images of saints Margaret and Michael subduing demons also evoke the triumph of good over evil. It appears ...that Arigo di Neri Arighetti, named in the inscription, commissioned the painting to commemorate the end of a feud. The identity of the artist remains controversial, but the subtle depiction of the faces and the sinuous lines of the drapery hems make clear that he was inspired by the great Sienese master Duccio.

Text from: www.mfa.org/collections/object/the-mystic-marriage-of-sai...