Francesco Trevisani (1656 - 1746)., Francesco Trevisani (1656 - 1746). The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine

Oil on Canvas

This monumental work represents a supreme example of the mature style of Francesco Trevisani depicting the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child in an outdoor setting against a lush and meticulously rendered wooded landscape The iconography focuses on the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine a theme of deep devotion in Italian art since the 15th century where the nude Infant Jesus is shown leaning toward his Mother while placing a ring upon the finger of the kneeling saint The painting is distinguished by an extraordinary state of preservation which allows for a full appreciation of the artists sophisticated technical range Originally trained in Venice under Antonio Zanchi Trevisani brought a northern naturalism to the Roman Baroque which evolved into a unique tactile sensibility evident here in the metallic almost porcelain-like rendering of the skin tones and the razor-sharp execution of the Virgins blue satin drapery The composition marks a pinnacle in the artists career where the dramatic tenebrism of his early years is replaced by a more lyrical and sentimental classicism characterized by fluid transitions between light and shadow and a harmonious integration of figures into the atmospheric background This specific canvas finds its closest stylistic parallels in Trevisanis celebrated masterpieces such as the Pietà at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Diana and Endymion in the Kassel Museum particularly in the treatment of the foliage and the crystalline quality of the light confirming its execution during the highly creative period of the late 1720s. Oil on canvas, 136 x 99 cm