Holy Family with the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine

c. 1560

Holy Family with the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, c. 1560. Tommaso d’Antonio Manzuoli, called Maso da San Friano (Italian, 1531–1571). Oil on panel; image: 148 x 103 cm (58 1/4 x 40 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2019.168 The marriage shown in this painting is called “mystic” because it was a purely symbolic. The infant Jesus places a ring on the finger of Catherine of Alexandria, a fourth-century saint who had a vision of dedicating herself to God and remaining a virgin instead of marrying. Note the otherworldly quality of the women and children’s elegant faces, compared to the naturalism of elderly Saint Joseph, who may be a likeness of someone the artist knew.