Saint Catherine of Bologna

On the horizontal base of the pulpit altarpiece are four small-format images attributed to Gaspar de Figueroa, a renowned painter from Santa Fe. The artworks depict four of the most recognizable saints of the colonial period. 

Her rank, however, did not dissuade her from starting a monastic life at a young age and entering the Dominican convent of Corpus Domini in her hometown as a novice. In 1453, she moved to the city of Bologna, where she founded a Clarian convent, of which she was abbess until her death. 

In the imagery of the saint, she is portrayed in the Franciscan habit, made up of a grey tunic and cloak. A black veil covers her head, a sign of her role as abbess. 

Her hagiography, Lo Specchio di Illuminazione (The Mirror of Illumination), written by Illuminata Bembo, evidences the closeness of the saint to the figure of Christ, for whom this image and its different symbols were the only subjects worthy of adoration, veneration, and consideration. 

For this reason, a large cross stand out in the image, reminiscent of the one on which Christ died. The saint of Bologna holds it with her left arm as a symbol of devotion to Jesus. 

Catherine looks up. An angel peeking out of the clouds places a rosary in her left hand, an element that connotes the devotion of the saint. 

At Catherine’s feet there is a box, one of her iconographic attributes. It is possible that this object is related to a posthumous event that testifies to the sanctity of the nun. 

According to Bembo, the woman’s body, buried without a coffin, was exhumed after eighteen days since a sweet aroma emanated from the grave. As it did not decompose in any way, a fact that was interpreted as a miracle, the body was exposed for the veneration of the faithful and religious. 

The image of Saint Catherine of Bologna was incorporated into the repertoire of saints of the ancient temple as a model of the Clarian values that the order sought to inculcate in its nuns. 

The process of Catherine’s beatification began only in the 17th century and continued during the following century. One effect of this process was the diffusion of her image over the course of both centuries in colonial America. It was during this period that this painting was made.