Correggio, matrimonio mistico (washington)

''Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine'' or ''Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine with Saints'' is a c.1510-1511 oil on canvas painting by

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

, now in the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington. Its central group is a Metterza, with

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...

kneeling before them and saints

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

and

Dominic Dominic is a name common among Roman Catholics and other Latin-Romans as a male given name. Originally from the late Roman-Italic name "Dominicus", its translation means "Lordly", "Belonging to God" or "of the Master". Variations include: Domini ...

to either side. The work first appears in the written record as part of the collection of count Giovanni Battista Costabili Containi (m. 1841) in

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

and it remained in the hands of his heirs until at least 1858. The attribution to Correggio was first popularised by

Giovanni Morelli Giovanni Morelli (25 February 1816 – 28 February 1891) was an Italian art critic and political figure. As an art historian, he developed the "Morellian" technique of scholarship, identifying the characteristic "hands" of painters through s ...

, who saw the work in 1875 while it was still in Ferrara, though local scholars had already made such an attribution, placing it in the artist's youth. Damage to the paint surface, especially in the area of the mantle and the faces of the Virgin Mary and Saint Anne, was already mentioned in the late 19th century. It was recorded as owned by doctor Gustavo Frizzoni in Milan in 1877 before passing through the hands of various heirs. In the 1930s it was bought from the engineer Bonomi by

Alessandro Contini Bonacossi Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi (18 March 1878 - 22 October 1955) was an Italian politician, art collector, dealer and philatelist. In 1939 he was made a Senator of the Kingdom of Vittorio Emanuele III. Early life Contini-Bonacossi was born in ...

, who in 1932 sold it to

Samuel H. Kress Samuel Henry Kress (July 23, 1863 – September 22, 1955) was a businessman, philanthropist, and founder of the S. H. Kress & Co. variety store, five and ten cent store chain. With his fortune, Kress amassed one of the most significant collection ...

, who finally gave it to its present owner in 1939. Giuseppe Adani, ''Correggio pittore universale'', Silvana Editoriale, Correggio 2007.

References

{{Antonio da Correggio Paintings by Correggio category:1511 paintings

category:Paintings of Francis of Assisi category:Paintings of Saint Anne category:Paintings of Saint Dominic category:Collections of the National Gallery of Art