Resumen de Art and the conventual life in renaissance Venice: Paolo Veronese’s mystical marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Paolo Veronese’s acclaimed Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1570) in the Accademia Galleries in Venice enjoys the distinction of having been the only depiction of the theme to grace the high altar of a Venetian church. A distinction rendered all the more significant by the particular relevance of the subject depicted – marriage to Christ – to the experience of its intended public and most likely patrons: the nuns of the Augustinian convent of Santa Caterina de’ Sacchi. As sponse Christi, or brides of Christ, the nuns shared the saint’s experience of mystical union with Christ, indeed the fundamental element of their religious identity. Veronese exploited in full this unique set of circumstances, creating an utterly original vision of fulfilment and identification that aimed at collapsing the gap between subject and experience, saint and nun. Virtually form the moment of its unveiling, the Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine came to be admired as one of Veronese’s most original invenzioni. This article will explore the artist’s unique adaptations of the theme to a conventual environment and discuss the role of the image in the devotional practices of women religious at the convent of Santa Caterina.
