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Date : between 1510 and 1515
Material : Tempera on canvas
Acquisition : Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection (1937)
| Item 18 on 29
European Painting
Painting
Area related
Ombrie (Italy)
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| Description |  |
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A faithful follower of Perugino (1445/46-1523), Lo Spagna perpetuated the master's calm style and gentle characterization through the early sixteenth century in numerous works in Perugia and the surrounding Umbrian region. Lo Spagna was also influenced by Perugino's illustrious pupil, Raphael (1483-1520).
Catherine Benincasa of Sienna (1347-1380), a Dominican nun, was, despite her working-class origins, one of the major religious figures of the late Middle Ages. Beginning in 1375, for instance, she saw herself marked with the stigmata, the five wounds inflicted on Christ by the crucifixion; these are faintly visible on the backs of the Saint's hands in the present picture. The lilies she holds denote her chastity, and the chamomile plant in the foreground symbolizes salvation or resurrection.
Although St. Catherine mostly devoted herself to the poor and sick, she also participated in the political affairs of the church. Letters she sent to Church leaders earned her great influence; in 1376 she succeeded in bringing the papacy back to Rome from Avignon (where the Popes had resided since 1310) by personally intervening with Pope Gregory XI. As papal ambassador to Florence, she effected peace between that city and the Holy See. Like Joan of Arc in France, who was also canonized, Catherine of Siena became a national heroine.
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