Polidoro de' Renzi, known as Polidoro da Lanciano (Lanciano, circa 1515 – Venice, 1565), Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine

Polidoro de' Renzi, known as Polidoro da Lanciano (Lanciano, around 1515 – Venice, 1565)

Sposalizio mistico di Santa Caterina

Oil on panel, 47,5 x 34,5 cm

With frame, 71 x 58 cm

The painting, depicting the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, can be compared to the production of the Venetian painter trained by Titian, Polidoro de' Renzi, known as Polidoro da Lanciano.

A comparison with prototypes by Francesco Vecellio suggests a period of work, perhaps as an apprentice, in the workshop of the famous painters from Pieve di Cadore, although there is no certain information on the artistic education and early cultural references of the young Polidoro. The only certain testimony is from 1536, when his name is registered in the Fraglia dei Pittori Veneziani, the city where he moved. In the lagoon the artist frequented the circle of Tiziano Vecellio, but his presence in the Cadore workshop is not historically confirmed, where his art appears to be influenced by Paris Bordon and Bonifacio de' Pitati. His style clearly shows suggestions of Veronese classicism, from which he draws iconographic modules and a renewed chromatic modernity, as suggested by the landscape veiled by clouds and the shrub behind Mary that ideally guides the observer's eye beyond the limit of the canvas itself. The prevalence of colour over design, of tones over shapes, the precious and iridescent shades of the clothes, the soft but at the same time full-bodied drapes embody the artist's Venetian culture.

In particular, the typologies of the Child Jesus and the Virgin, as well as the general setting of the scene are typical of the work of Polidoro da Lanciano and of the models he took from Titian's production, with the majestic figures in the foreground. Equally typical are the poses of the characters and the typologies of their candid faces.

His production is mainly aimed at creating 'devotional paintings', Sacred Conversations with a narrative character, following tried and tested iconographic formulas, almost always used for private devotion. For example, works such as the Marriage of Saint Catherine of Ca Rezzonico where there is the same diagonal construction of the scene and the Holy Family of the Accademia Carrara.