The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine

This painting, produced while Veronese was still active in his birthplace of Verona, is thought to have been created during the painter's early period. The Virgin Mary is shown holding the Christ Child in the center of the composition. To their right kneels St. Catherine of Alexandria. In the background, Mary's husband Joseph is seen drawing back after interceding between the two women. In the lower left, the infant St. John the Baptist holds a cross, while a lamb lies next to him, symbolizing Christ's future Crucifixion. This scene shows the episode in which the saint is mystically married to Christ. Catherine was an early Christian martyr who lived at the beginning of the 4th century. Born of the royal family of Alexandria, Egypt, she was converted to Christianity, was baptized, and later had a vision of being married to Christ. The Roman Emperor Maxentius sought the beautiful princess in marriage, but she refused, stating that she was already the "bride of Christ." The emperor sent 50 philosophers to Catherine, and through their arguments sought to strip her of her faith in Christianity. Their arguments, however, were overturned by Catherine's learning, and conversely, the philosophers were all baptized as Christians. The emperor was incensed and ordered that Catherine be tortured; finally she was martyred by beheading. The subject of the "mystic marriage" symbolizing a deep internal relationship with God is based on legends dating back as far as the 14th century, and the subject frequently appears in Italian Renaissance painting. The popularity of this saint rests on the fact that she was of high birth, and yet was deeply faithful and extremely learned. These features all formed an ideal example for women during the Renaissance. Two families' emblems are combined in a coat of arms painted in the upper left of the composition. Inside a shield-shaped frame on the left side there is a white tower-like structure, while the right side of the shield contains a tree covered with green leaves. The former refers to the Della Torre (torre = tower) family, while the latter refers to Pindemonte family (Pindemonte = pines on a mountain). These two were both powerful Veronese aristocratic families and it is thought that this painting was created to commemorate a wedding between the two families in 1547.(Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 19)