Old Painting From The Italian School Of The 17th Century

Mystical wedding of Saint Catherine of Alexandria Oil on Canvas Dimensions: Canvas: 72 x 56 cm - With Frame: 87 X 71 cm Refined representation of the mystical wedding of Saint Catherine. The pictorial quality could place the painting in the hand of ORSOLA CACCIA (Suor Orsola Maddalena Caccia Moncalvo, December 4, 1596 - July 26, 1676) The mystical marriage is a recurring motif in literature, in theology. Saint Catherine of Siena recounts her "mystical marriage" with Jesus. “During a vision, which will always remain present in the mind and heart of Saint Catherine, the Blessed Virgin presents her to Jesus, who gives her a splendid ring, saying to her“ I, your Creator and Savior, I you take in marriage; confident that you will keep yourself pure as long as you celebrate your eternal nuptials with me in Heaven ”. The ring is visible by itself. In this extraordinary episode, we can see the heart of Catherine's religious sense, and of all authentic spirituality: Christocentrism. For her, Christ is like the bridegroom, with whom there is a relationship of intimacy, communion and fidelity; He is the favorite, which she loves above all else. This deep union with the Lord is illustrated by another episode in the life of this extraordinary mystic: the exchange of hearts. As Raymond of Capua attests, who transmitted Catherine's revelations to us, the Lord Jesus appeared to her "holding in his holy hands a human heart, of a dazzling and brilliant red". He opens his side and places his heart inside saying "My dear girl, after taking your heart the other day, now you see I'm giving you mine, so you can go on living with it. , forever. ". Catherine truly lived the words of Saint Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” Sister Orsola Maddalena Caccia (Moncalvo, December 4, 1596 - July 26, 1676) was an Italian nun and painter. Born in 1596, daughter of Laura Oliva and the painter Guglielmo Caccia, she is known for her works (specifically frescoes and paintings). In 1620 he entered the Ursuline convent in Bianzè, only in 1625 he moved to a new convent in Moncalvo with his three sisters on the order of his father. In his painting he takes up themes previously treated by his father such as devotional paintings for many churches not only in Piedmont. His painting was also successful with the Savoy family. The sources of the eighteenth century, in the pictorial domain, however, tend to prefer his sister Francesca. It is only recently that a few still lifes of Madeleine have been identified that have found the interest of scholars. The first paintings attributed to him are the Immaculate Conception of the parish church of Rosazza, the sleeping Virgin and Child of the parish church of Bianzè and the Nativity of the deposits of the Palazzo Bianco in Genoa. The frescoed subjects take up the typical ideas of the father and can be placed chronologically between 1615 and 1620. The upper part of the Martyrdom of Saint Maurice in the church of San Francesco in Moncalvo, started by his father, but not completed due to the latter's sudden death in 1625 is also under his control. Late hunting activity is characterized by less formal control accompanied by darkening of previously used colors. Although some paintings have been lost, the painter's production exceeds the hundred paintings preserved. It is important to remember this painter because she is the example of a nun who practiced the art of painting at a time when women were artistically less considered than men.