Fra Bartolommeo, called Baccio della Porta
St. Catherine of Siena
Oil on canvas
25 1/8” x 20 5/16” x 1 3/4”
On loan from the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery
This work, which captures the serenity and holiness of St. Catherine of Siena, is by Baccio della Porta, a painter better known by his religious name, Fra Bartolomeo. A Dominican friar who lived between 1472 and 1517, Fra Bartolomeo painted mainly religious scenes throughout his life. He was renowned for his realistic portrayal of fabric draping, as well as his use of modeling, both of which are evident in this work. The subject of the painting is a fellow Dominican, St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), a nun who achieved sainthood for her singular focus on God and her ability to resist distractions from her worship. She worked to reunite the Catholic church during the so-called “great schism,” a period when multiple Popes were elected, helping to gather support for the Pope in Rome. Her miracles included a mystical marriage to Jesus, and the receiving of the stigmata, the miraculous appearance of the wounds of Christ.
Fra Bartolomeo portrays Catherine from the shoulders up, facing away from the viewer, her face almost wholly lost to view. She looks upwards, ignoring the ephemeral things of this world and focusing on the ethereal and spiritual. Her traditional Dominican habit is emphasized, with her fabric veil occupying much of the canvas. Her halo, the only sign of her sainthood, is painted with very thin, clearly-seen brushstrokes, appearing transparent against the bold blue-green background. The dark background also functions to draw the viewer’s attention to the figure by its contrast with St. Catherine’s pale skin and white habit. The saint’s face is shown naturalistically, complete with shadowing that betrays her age. The artist utilizes realism in her features and in the representation of her habit in order to emphasize her humanity, while the light shining down on St. Catherine’s face seems to symbolize the divine to which she dedicated her mortal life.
Kate Hickman