Art Institute of Chicago

Saint Catherine of Siena

Lo Spagna (Giovanni di Pietro; Italian, active 1504–28)LinkedCulture matchlcp-248329a6071c

Date: 1510–15
Medium: Tempera and oil on panel
Culture: Italy
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID: 25778

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

This panel represents Catherine Benincasa of Siena, one of the most influential women of the late Middle Ages. Affiliated with the Dominican order, she was renowned for her devotion to the poor and sick as well as for her mystical visions. In one such vision, she saw herself marked with Christ’s wounds from his crucifixion, known as the stigmata. These marks are faintly visible on the backs of her hands in this painting and help identify her. The artist, called Lo Spagna, was a gifted follower of Perugino, whose work is on view nearby.

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Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Provenance: Possibly William Blundell Spence, Florence, in 1857 and possibly sold by him to Lady Marianne Margaret Compton, Viscountess Alford (d. 1888), 1857 [Ellis Waterhouse suggested that it could have been the “St. Catherine by Pinturicchio” sold by Spence to Lady Marianne Margaret Compton and mentioned in a letter from Spence to Lady Waldegrave dated April 14, 1857, Strachie MSS DD/SH 285 WW 52/1, Somerset Record Office, Taunton, according to Fleming 1979]. Adelbert Wellington Brownlow Cust, third Earl Brownlow (d. 1921), Ashridge Park, Berkhamsted [he may have inherited it from his mother, Lady Marianne Margaret Compton, Viscountess Alford if it was the picture referred to above; it was certainly in Brownlow’s possession by 1906, see Gregory 1906]; sold by his executors, Christie’s, London, May 4, 1923, no. 50 (ill.), to Agnew’s for ₤924 [according to Cannons 1923]; sold by Agnew’s, London, to Martin A. Ryerson (d. 1932), Chicago, 1923 [according to Agnew’s invoice, Art Institute archives]; intermittently on loan to the Art Institute from 1924; by descent to his wife Carrie Hutchinson Ryerson (1859–1937), Chicago, 1932 [Last Will and Testament of Martin A. Ryerson, Died August 11, 1932, copy in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago]; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1937.