Hl. Katharina
Bernardino Luini·1506
Historical Context
Hl. Katharina (Saint Catherine) from 1506 by Bernardino Luini is an early depiction of the virgin martyr that shows the artist developing his characteristic approach to female saints. Catherine of Alexandria was one of the most venerated saints in Italian devotion Oil on canvas, increasingly preferred over panel in the sixteenth century, offered greater flexibility for large-scale compositions The work is now in the collection of Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich.
Technical Analysis
The saint is rendered with the emerging softness and idealized beauty that would characterize Luini's mature work, the Leonardesque influence already apparent in the gentle modeling.
