God the Father with Sts Catherine of Siena and Mary Magdalen

Fra Bartolomeo painted this God the Father with Saints Catherine of Siena and Mary Magdalen around 1509 for the Villa Guinigi National Museum in Lucca, demonstrating his mastery of the three-tier celestial composition — God the Father above, saints in the middle register, implied worshippers below. The Dominican saints Catherine of Siena and Mary Magdalene — the contemplative mystic and the repentant sinner — flanked the divine figure in an arrangement reflecting Dominican theological priorities. By 1509 Fra Bartolomeo was at the peak of his mature period, his friendship with Raphael having helped him develop a more classically balanced style. The Lucca provenance reflects the important role of civic churches in northern Tuscany as patrons of High Renaissance altarpieces.

Oil on panel with Fra Bartolomeo's characteristic soft atmospheric modeling and monumental figure treatment. The work demonstrates the artistic qualities characteristic of Fra Bartolomeo's mature period.