After Bernardino Luini, 'Saint Catherine', early 16th century
About the work
Overview
Saint Catherine of Alexandria sits at a table reading a book. On either side of her are two angels: one holds Catherine’s traditional attribute of the spiked wheel on which she was tortured for her Christian faith, the other holds a martyr’s palm.
The picture is a later version of a painting by Bernardino Luini, who was a follower of Leonardo and repeated his themes. The facial type of Saint Catherine is derived from Leonardo’s work, as is the soft, hazy approach to modelling and lighting seen here, known in Italian as sfumato (literally ‘smoky’). Forms emerge from the darkness and contours are blurred, creating a sense of ambiguity, especially in the figures’ expressions. Saint Catherine looks down at her book and seems to smile quietly to herself. The painting’s contemplative mood is enhanced by the rich deep colours and plain dark background.
There is another version of this composition in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Both at different times have been thought to be the original.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Saint Catherine
- Artist
- After Bernardino Luini
- Artist dates
- about 1480 - 1532
- Date made
- early 16th century
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 71.1 × 59.7 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Mond Bequest, 1924
- Inventory number
- NG3936
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1825J.P. Neale, The Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, London 1825
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1849British Institution, Catalogue of Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French and English Masters, with which the Proprietors have Favoured the Institution: June 1849, London 1849
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1857G. Scharf, Catalogue of the Art Treasures of the United Kingdom: Collected at Manchester in 1857, London 1857
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1866British Institution, Catalogue of Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French and English Masters, with which the Proprietors have Favoured the Institution: June 1866, London 1866
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1868R.N. James et al., National Exhibition of Works of Art, Leeds, 1868 (exh. cat. Leeds Infirmary, 1868), Leeds 1868
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1889Christie's, Catalogue of Capital Pictures by Old Masters, London, 29 June 1889
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1892Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of the Works of the Old Masters (exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, 1892), London 1892
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1898H.F. Cook, Catalogue of Pictures by Masters of the Milanese and Allied Schools of Lombardy, London 1898
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1899G.C. Williamson, Bernardino Luini, London 1899
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1899G. Pauli, 'Ausstellung von Gemälden der Lombardischen Schule im Burlington Fine Arts Club', Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst, X, 1899, pp. 145-54
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1902L. Richter, 'The Collection of Dr. Ludwig Mond', The Connoisseur, IV, 1902, pp. 75-85, 229-36
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1910J.P. Richter, The Mond Collection: An Appreciation, London 1910
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1911L. Beltrami, Luini 1512-1532: Materiale di studio, Milan 1911
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1911G. Frizzoni, 'La raccolta Mond ed opere attinenti alla medesima', Rassegna d'arte, XI, 1911, pp. 43-8
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1912C.J. Ffoulkes, 'Il catalogo mond', L'arte, XV, 1912, pp. 263-80
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1923M.W. Brockwell, 'Correspondance d'Angleterre: La collection Mond', Gazette des beaux-arts, V/8, 1923, pp. 117-26
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1924A. Venturi, 'La quadreria di Ludwig Mond', L'arte, XXVII, 1924, pp. 200-10
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1932B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works, with an Index of Places, Oxford 1932
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1956A. Ottino della Chiesa, Bernardino Luini, Novara 1956
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1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
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1972M. Precerutti Garberi, Capolavori d'arte lombarda: I leonardeschi ai raggi 'x' (exh. cat. Castello Sforzesco, 23 November - 31 December 1972), Milan 1972
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1983A. Vezzosi et al., Leonardo e il leonardismo a Napoli e a Roma (exh. cat. Museo di Capodimonte, 1983; Palazzo Venezia, 1983 - 1984), Naples 1983
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1988P. Slavich and F. Zeri, Pinacoteca di Brera: Scuole lombarda e piemontese 1300-1535, Milan 1988
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1993National Gallery, 'Pictures Cleaned and Restored in the Conservation Department of the National Gallery, October 1993 - September 1994', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVI, 1995
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1994T. Kustodieva, The Hermitage Catalogue of Western European Painting: Italian Painting Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries, Moscow 1994
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2003D. Wardleworth, 'The "Friendly" Battle for the Mond Bequest', British Art Journal, IV/3, 2003, pp. 87-93
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
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