Description
Painting during a period when artists no longer worked as anonymous craftsmen, Catarino signed this altarpiece prominently, "Catarino from Venice painted [this]." Juxtaposed with the donor's coat of arms (lower center, now missing), this signature aligns him with the patron, who kneels at Mary's feet. The patron shows his devotion through his commission, the artist through his skill. The glowing face on Mary's dress associates her with the "woman clothed with the sun" (Revelation 12:1) of the Bible. Both Mary and the Woman were understood to be symbols of the Christian Church.
Sts. Anthony Abbot and John the Baptist stand to Mary's right. To her left are Sts. Christopher and James the Great. St. Lucy, with her lamp, and St. Catherine of Alexandria, with her wheel, flank the Crucifixion with Mary and John at the top. The half-length figures, from left to right, are Sts. Ursula, Bartholomew, Clare, and Barbara. (Ursula and Barbara have been mislabeled but may be recognized by their attributes-Ursula holds an arrow, and Barbara holds a monstrance, a container used to display the consecrated wafer.)
For more information on this polyptych, please see Zeri catalogue number 34, pp. 56-58.
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