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Pietro de Lignis (Mechelen 1577 – Rome 1627) The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria Oil on copper Provenance:
Pietro de Lignis, alternatively known as Dubois, Van den Houte, Vandenauta, and Del Legno, was a painter of religious themes. He settled in Rome in 1599 and became a member of the Accademia di S. Luca in 1607. His son Angelo (1608 – 1656) also became a painter and member of the Accademia di S. Luca. Only two signed paintings by Pietro are known, one in the Prado depicting The Adoration of the Magi, the other a Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria whose present location is unknown. For a very similar composition with a few minor variants, see The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe. Paintings depicting Catherine’s martyrdom are comparatively rare, the depiction of the mystic marriage being more commonplace. According to The Golden Legend, Catherine of Alexandria was a fourth century queen who converted to Christianity. She was baptized by a desert hermit and in a vision underwent a mystic marriage with Christ. In our painting, the steps leading up to the martyrdom are depicted somewhat sequentially with the most important action placed in the foreground. When visiting Alexandria the Roman Emperor Maxentius, shown enthroned under a canopy on the left side of the middle ground, desired Catherine and tried to undermine her faith by argument. After failing, he sent fifty philosophers to plead his case but Catherine persuaded them instead to become converts. An enraged Maxentius had the philosophers executed, depicted in the middle background of the panel. For Catherine’s execution, the Emperor created an instrument of torture consisting of four wheels studded with iron spikes to which she was bound. She is saved when an angel appears hurling thunderbolts. The wheel is broken and those that bound her destroyed. Maxentius in his frustration has her beheaded, pictured in the upper-right background. Catherine stands in the center foreground of the composition with her eyes heavenward, wearing a crown while another angel hovers above displaying the symbols of her passion, the martyr’s palm and laurel wreath. |