|
This painting belongs to a narrative cycle depicting scenes from the life of Catherine of Siena, a fourteenth-century Dominican saint, who was a minister to the poor as well as a mystic. The panels, based on a biography of Saint Catherine written in 1385 by her confessor Raymond of Capua, represent the first complete pictorial cycle of her life. This series may have been produced following St Catherine's canonization in 1461 and added as a predella (base) to a preexisting altarpiece.
Catherine Benincasa was born in Siena about 1347, died in 1380, and was canonized in 1461. She was a member of the Dominican order, a mystic, and minister to the poor and plague-stricken. This picture illustrates St Catherine's miraculous levitation and exchange of her bloody heart with Christ. These miracles are recounted in his biography of Catherine by her confessor, Raymond of Capua; however, Raymond describes them as three separate episodes. In one, Christ takes Catherine's heart. In another, in the church of San Domenico in Siena, Christ appears and places his heart in her side. Raymond then describes her levitations, during which Catherine "contemplated the marvels of God." Giovanni di Paolo did not follow any of these accounts specifically. Rather he combined them, emphasizing their mystic nature by congesting the space with three ecclesiastical buildings. The small church alongside which Catherine levitates has an open door, above which is a figure of Christ as the Man of Sorrows - a poignant contrast to his appearance to Catherine, his hand raised in blessing while she holds a bleeding heart.
|
