The Mystical Betrothal of Saint Catherine
Ca. 1600. Oil on panel.On display elsewhere
The six figures that make up the scene of this small canvas are organised across a widely elongated foreground. The figures are arranged as follows (left to right): Saint Elizabeth with Saint John the Baptist as a Boy; Saint Catherine, who occupies the centre-left; whereas the right position is reserved for Mary with Jesus in her arms, who puts the mystical betrothal ring to the saint. The last figure on our right is a woman holding a basket of what seem to be eggs, an object with vast connotations within religious symbolism. Late mannerism characterises this composition both in the use of colour and in the treatment of the hands. The compositional line that starts from the head of the saint, passes through her arm, and ascends to Mary’s head provides the iconographic key to the story: the soft curve that unites the two figures culminates in the union of their hands when Jesus offers the ring of the mystic betrothal to the saint. Thick and pasty brushstrokes achieve strong effects such as a contrast between the reddish tunic and the pale veil of Mary. The prominent figures are situated almost in the centre of the scene but somewhat displaced to our left. They are flanked by the lateral figures yet are skilfully separated from them by the strategically placed box in the back window.
Pérez, J., El Siglo de Fray Luis de Leon.Salamanca y el Renacimiento, Salamanca, Ministerio de Cultura. Caja de Salamanca, 1991
