Twee kleine schetsen van het Mystiek huwelijk van de heilige Catharina 1500 - 1600

Ottavio Vannini created these two small sketches of the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine with pen and brown ink, around the first decades of the 17th century. Vannini was a Florentine painter who trained at the academy in Florence. This drawing is a preparatory sketch for a larger painting. The sketch on the right depicts the Virgin Mary holding the infant Christ, who places a ring on Saint Catherine’s finger. This motif was very popular in Counter-Reformation Italy, where emphasis was placed on the virtues of chastity and mystical union with Christ. The sketch on the left depicts a group of putti surrounding the main scene. Vannini was a court artist, and he relied on the patronage of the Medici family. He painted religious and mythological scenes, portraits, and decorations for palaces and villas. It is interesting to examine the economic structures that determined the themes and styles of the artworks produced. We can learn more by comparing this sketch to the final painting and researching the patronage system in Florence at that time.