The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Portrait of a Woman as Saint Catherine

Portrait of a Woman as Saint Catherine

c. 1560
(Italian, 1502–1567)
Italy, 16th century
oil on wood
Framed: 116 x 93 x 11 cm (45 11/16 x 36 5/8 x 4 5/16 in.); Unframed: 95 x 71.3 cm (37 3/8 x 28 1/16 in.)
Holden Collection 1916.825
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The spiked wheel identifies this woman as the Christian martyr Saint Catherine.

Description

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a Christian, was martyred for refusing to make sacrifices to idols as decreed by the pagan Roman emperor Maxentius. While Maxentius first attempted to slay Catherine with spiked wheels, the machine broke when she prayed for salvation, and the emperor subsequently beheaded her. Catherine is identified in portraits through objects related to her martyrdom, such as a broken wheel, or a palm branch symbolizing the victory of the eternal spirit over mortal flesh. In sixteenth-century Florence, patrician women were often portrayed as such exemplary figures, indicating the virtues of the sitter.
  • The primary support comprises three vertical panel planks that are butt-joined and reinforced with butterfly inserts on the reverse. Remarkably, it appears that the panel has maintained its original thickness and was not thinned in its lifetime. Technical analysis revealed that several pigments utilized by the artist have discolored over time, including the blue pigment, smalt, used for portions of the drapery, as well as the copper-containing pigment used for the background. Following the recent 2022 conservation treatment, several campaigns of discolored yellowed varnish and areas of overpaint that no longer matched the original painted colors were successfully removed.
  • Riccardi Gallery, Florence, Italy, sold to James Jackson Jarves
    ? - 1884
    James Jackson Jarves (1818-1888), sold to Liberty Emery Holden
    1884-1913
    Liberty Emery Holden, Cleveland, OH (1833-1913), by descent to his wife
    1913-1916
    Mrs. Liberty Emery Holden (Delia Elizabeth Bulkley, 1838-1932), Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hollenden Gallery, James Jackson Jarves, and Liberty Emery Holden. Handbook for Visitors to the Hollenden Gallery of Masters: Exhibited at the Boston Foreign Art Exhibition in 1883-4. S.l: J.J. Jarves, 1883 Reproduced: no. 30
    Berenson, Mary Logan. "Dipinti italiani in Cleveland, USA." Rassegna d'arte, VII (January 1907): 3 Reproduced: p. 3
    Rubinstein-Bloch, Stella. Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings, Etc. Presented by Mrs. Liberty E. Holden to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1917 Mentioned: p. 11, cat. no. 1 archive.org
    Coe, Nancy. The History of the Collecting of European Paintings and Drawings in the City of Cleveland. 1955. N5216.O3 C64 1955 Reproduced: p. 80, no. 2
    Roberto Longhi, "Une sguardo alle fotographie della Mostra: 'Italian Art and Britain' alla Royal Academy di Londra," Paragone, XI, no. 125 (1960)
    Pillsbury, Edmund P. Florence and the Arts; Five Centuries of Patronage. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1971 Reproduced: p. 55
    Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972 Mentioned: p. 237, 384, 531, 573
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982 Mentioned: p. 312; Reproduced: p. 313
    Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993 Reproduced: p. 78
  • Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).
    Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916).
    Loan Exhibition of the Holden Collection. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (1912).
    American Exhibition of Foreign Products, Arts, and Manufactures: Art Department, Jarves Collection. Boston, MA (1883).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of a Woman as Saint Catherine|url=false|author=Pier Francesco Foschi|year=c. 1560|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.825