''The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine'' (or ''Mystical'') is a painting by

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

dating about the mid-1520s currently held and exhibited at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

History

The history of this picture can be traced right back to the beginning.

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

mentions it as being in the house of a Modenese doctor, Francesco Grillenzoni; in 1582 Cardinal

Luigi d'Este Luigi d'Este (21 December 1538 – 30 December 1586) was an Italian Catholic cardinal, the second son of the five children of Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Modena and Ferrara, and Renée, daughter of Louis XII of France. Biography Luigi, a member ...

bought it, and presented it to Catarina Nobili Sforza,

Countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Santa Fiora and grand-niece of

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

. It was still in her possession in 1595. In 1614 the panel was in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, the property of Cardinal

Sforza The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. They acquired the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti family in the mid-15th century, Sforza rule ending in Milan with the death of the last me ...

of Santa Fiora, who had no doubt inherited it. It was subsequently owned by

Scipione Borghese Scipione Borghese (; 1 September 1577 – 2 October 1633) was an Italian Cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini. His legacy is the establ ...

, and then by Cardinal Antonio Barberini; the latter gave it to Mazarin in c. 1650.

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

bought it from Mazarin's heirs in 1661, for 15000 ''

livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...

''. Correggio first depicted this subject in another painting originally held in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

(and not universally accepted as his work). The

picture dates from the early 1520s, and it shows clear signs of Leonardo's influence (esp. lips, hands, visage), to which Correggio was particularly susceptible in his endeavour to convey a soft and graceful effect. A number of replicas of this painting have been made, many of which still survive. It has often been a source of inspiration to artists: in the 19th century it was copied by Louis Gustave Ricard, and several times by Fantin-Latour.F. Negri Arnoldi, ''Storia dell'Arte'', Fabbri Group, (1990) Vol.III, pp.149–153.

References

External links

Biographical note

Appraisal of Correggio's ''Mystic Marriage''

Correggio
by

Estelle M. Hurll Estelle May Hurll (1863–1924), a student of aesthetics, wrote a series of popular aesthetic analyses of art in the early twentieth century. Hurll was born 25 July 1863 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, daughter of Charles W. and Sarah Hurll. She a ...

, 1901, from

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

Works by Correggio at www.antoniodacorreggio.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (Correggio) 1520s paintings Paintings by Correggio Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists Nude art

History

See also

References

External links