Cleveland Museum of Art

Holy Family with the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine

Tommaso d’Antonio Manzuoli, called Maso da San Friano

Date

c. 1560

Medium

oil on panel

Culture

Italy

Department

European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The marriage shown in this painting is called “mystic” because it was a purely symbolic. The infant Jesus places a ring on the finger of Catherine of Alexandria, a fourth-century saint who had a vision of dedicating herself to God and remaining a virgin instead of marrying. Note the otherworldly quality of the women and children’s elegant faces, compared to the naturalism of elderly Saint Joseph, who may be a likeness of someone the artist knew. Saint Catherine is usually shown with a spiked wheel; here, it is barely visible below her hand.

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