Maria mit dem Kind und den Heiligen Katharina und Hieronymus

Carpaccio's Mary with Child and Saints Catherine and Jerome from 1508 is a formal devotional panel combining the Madonna and Child with two of the most important saints in the Venetian tradition. Catherine of Alexandria and Jerome, the scholar-translator of the Bible, represent respectively the female martyr-intellectual and the male scholar-penitent traditions that were central to late medieval Christian devotion. Carpaccio's treatment of this combined devotional group demonstrates his mature ability to organize multiple figures within a coherent devotional format while maintaining the individual characterization that distinguished his work from more formulaic altarpiece production. The 1508 date places this in his mature period when his scuola cycle work was supplemented by formal devotional panels for Venice's churches and private patrons.

The composition groups the four figures in clear spatial relationships, with Carpaccio's characteristic attention to individual characterization and costume detail.