The Marriage of Saint Catherine 1569

‘The Marriage of Saint Catherine’ was painted by Paolo Veronese in the 16th century, using oil on canvas. Veronese was known for his dazzling colour and compositional invention, and this painting is no exception. But let’s also think about the materials at his disposal. Oil paint was well established by this time, allowing for luminous effects, but the cost of pigments was another matter. Ultramarine, derived from the stone lapis lazuli, would have been among the most expensive, along with the rich yellows you see here. The quality of the canvas mattered, too; its weave and texture influenced the handling of the paint. All this to say, the very substance of a painting like this had a direct connection to wealth and power. Veronese was not just an artist, he was a skilled manager of materials, and an entrepreneur in a thriving economy of display. Considering this helps us understand what we are really looking at in this canvas.