The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine
(Imola 1488 - Bologna c. 1545)
The painting, of unknown provenance, was definitely part of the Borghese collection from 1833, when it is mentioned in the fideicommissary inventory, and correctly attributed to Innocenzo Francucci, known as Innocenzo da Imola. The work, which has an atmosphere of great tenderness, can be dated to the early part of the artist’s career. It is one of a number of devotional works based on a tried and tested formula, reused with small variations.
Object details
Inventory
Location
Date
first quarter of the 16th century
Classification
Period
Medium
Dimensions
Frame
Salvator Rosa cm. 86 x 75,8 x 7
Provenance
Rome, Borghese Collection, Inventario Fidecommissario Borghese 1833, p. 34, no. 37. Purchased by the Italian state in 1902.
Conservation and Diagnostic
Commentary
The painting depicts the Madonna seated and holding the blessing Child in her lap. He is turned toward St Catherine, portrayed on the left of the scene. On the opposite side but in the background is St Joseph, who is looking towards the viewer. As Venturi (1893, p. 214) pointed out, his features seem to be inspired by a Roman mosaic. Behind St Catherine, beyond the open curtain on the left, is a landscape in which a cone-shaped hill stands out.
The painter, a native of Imola, already in 1506 is confirmed to have been in Bologna, where he may have studied under Francesco Francia, as Malvasia writes (Felsina pittrice [1678], Bologna 1844, I, p. 119). In addition to his stay in the Emilian city, he also spent some time in Florence where, as Vasari recalls (Le vite [Lives]… [1568], edited by G. Milanesi, Florence 1880, V, p. 185), he worked with Mariotto Albertinelli, a contact that is confirmed by various stylistic affinities (C. Pedrini, ad vocem Francucci, Innocenzo (Innocenzo da Imola), in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, L, 1998).
The provenance of the painting is uncertain and how it came to be in the Borghese collection is also unknown. The only known mention of the painting in the inventory dates to the fideicommissary list of 1833, in which it is correctly attributed to Francucci. The attribution to this painter has also been supported by Piancastelli (1891, p. 169), Venturi (cit.), Longhi (1928, p. 222), Della Pergola (1955, p. 52, no. 84) and Ferriani (1986, pp. 63, 69).
The panel dates to the artist’s early career and is one of a number of devotional works based on the reuse of the same formulas with very slight variations. The great tenderness that distinguishes the central group of the Madonna and Child and St Catherine suggests a dating similar to the altarpiece that was already in the church of Corpus Domini in Bologna, today conserved at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, dated within 1525 (Ferriani cit., p. 63).
Pier Ludovico Puddu
Bibliography
- G. Piancastelli, Catalogo dei quadri della Galleria Borghese, in Archivio Galleria Borghese, 1891, p. 169;
- A. Venturi, Il Museo e la Galleria Borghese, Roma 1893, p. 214;
- R. Longhi, Precisioni nelle Gallerie Italiane, I, La R. Galleria Borghese, Roma 1928, p. 222;
- P. Della Pergola, La Galleria Borghese. I Dipinti, I, Roma 1955, p. 52 n. 84;
- D. Ferriani, Innocenzo Francucci detto da Imola (Imola, 1490 ca. – Bologna, 1545 ca.), In Pittura bolognese del ‘500, I, a cura di V. Fortunati Pietrantonio, A.M. Fioravanti Baraldi, Bologna 1986, p. 63;
- K. Herrmann Fiore, Galleria Borghese Roma scopre un tesoro. Dalla pinacoteca ai depositi un museo che non ha più segreti, San Giuliano Milanese 2006, p. 152.
