Bolognese school, 17th century Mystical marriage

Bolognese School, 17th century
Mystical wedding of Saint Catherine
Oil on canvas, 85.5 x 56.5 cm - with frame 109 x 83 cm

The work in question depicts the episode of the mystical wedding of Santa Caterina, however without the usual wheel of martyrdom, in the presence of Sant'Anna. The saint is on the right, dressed in a golden dress, while the Virgin, in a purple dress, hands her the Child who puts on her wedding ring. Finally, the central figures are surrounded by angels who pray and play hymns. The scene takes place in an interior, probably a church or a temple as evidenced by the imposing architecture, enveloped by red curtains that descend scenically to cover part of the stage scene to the left of the episode. The canvas is to be related to the painting of the same subject, preserved at the Kunsthostorisces in Vienna, by Gian Gioseffo del Sole (Bologna, 1654-1719), an artist belonging to the Bolognese school, also influenced by the art of Guido Reni and chromatism of Venetian ancestry, he offered a peculiar rocaille modernity to painting, visible especially in the folds of the clothes and in the colors that intensify and become iridescent. First pupil of Domenico Maria Canuti, friend of his father Antonio, well-known landscape painter, then trainee at Lorenzo Pasinelli, after a stay in Mantua, Gioseffo decorates Palazzo Mansi in Lucca (1686), then moves to Verona (1690), Florence and Rome (1716), while remaining always tied to Bologna. His painting is often inspired by the works of Guido Reni and prefers female figures pervaded by pathos as subjects. Together with the major painters of the time, he collaborates in the composition of the scenes for the Aeneid Gallery of the Palazzo Buonaccorsi in Macerata. Compared to the strongly Baroque imprint of the works of the master Canuti, those of Dal Sole seem to betray a more marked adhesion to the elegant and classicist style of Guido Reni. You can also see the works of Lorenzo Pasinelli, such as the Santa Caterina conserved at the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna, the Holy Family at the Church of Santa Maria della Galliera and the Svenimento di Cornelia at the Bolognese Pianocteca.