Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio
SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA BY CARAVAGGIO: DESCRIPTION AND CURIOUS FACTS
Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio is a painting painted in 1597, a happy period and of great work for the artist. Everything seemed to be perfect, but that it wasn’t exactly true. After all, the model Caravaggio used for the painting belonged to the dark world that inhabited Rome in the late 17th century, which Caravaggio couldn’t do without.
In this post I’ll make you discover a masterpiece by Michelangelo Merisi known as Caravaggio.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio
The adventurous life of Michelangelo Merisi is made up of excesses. From murders to fights, from death sentences to prison, everything in the life of Caravaggio is exaggerated and out of control. However, harmony and poetry shine through his works that have nothing to do with his existence.
The painting Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio is part of the collection of works of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and was executed during Caravaggio’s stay at Palazzo Madama in Rome, the residence of Cardinal del Monte.
SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA: ANALYSIS
The light comes from the right and completely illuminates Saint Catherine and the wheel, the symbol of her martyrdom. She gazes out at the viewers and it feels like she wants to tell us something or prove she has no fear and has got a higher power.
It’s no coincidence that her hands gently touch a sword, another attribute of her martyrdom. Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio is a young woman with a confident gaze, richly dressed and kneeling on a damask cushion.
A thin circle over her head tells us that she is a Saint, and it’s one of the very rare cases in which Caravaggio paints this element characteristic of paintings of sacred subject. The spike wheel Saint Catherine is lying on is the instrument of her torture which broke. So her executioners had to behead her with a sword.
The palm, the symbol of her martyrdom, is depicted below and intersects with the blade of the sword covered with blood.
CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA
Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio was part of Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte’s art collection, and according to documents the painting was in the collection in 1627. The canvas was executed in the period in which Caravaggio stayed in the Roman palace of the Cardinal. It’s the period in which the artist tried to describe feelings on the faces of the characters and learnt how to manage the light according to the subjects he depicted.
The model for Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio was identified as Fillide Melandroni, a famous Roman courtesan, loved by the artist and who would pose for several other paintings such as “Conversion of the Magdalene”, “Judith Beheading Holofernes” and a portrait that unfortunately was destroyed in a fire in Berlin during WWII.
Fillide Melandroni was a very talked-about woman, and her life was characterized by charges of weapons and soliciting. So, one of dangerous Caravaggio’s friendships he couldn’t do without!
WHERE TO SEE SAINT CATHERINE BY CARAVAGGIO
Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio is housed in Madrid at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.