The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine

The Infant Jesus, seated on a cushion, slips a ring onto the finger of Saint Catherine. The Virgin supports her son, gazing attentively at the event. Through the window we see a landscape with a house with a straw roof.
Painted by Bernardino Luini in about 1520, the painting reveals the influence of Andrea Solario and of Leonardo, particularly in the use of the chiaroscuro.
This is a work of great harmony, one of the first examples of an iconographic theme which Luini painted numerous times in his career. The mystical marriage is a metaphor of Saint Catherine’s spiritual commitment to God.