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Saint Catherine
El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (Greek (active in Spain), 1541–1614)
1610–14
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
100.5 x 63.8 cm (39 9/16 x 25 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of William A. Coolidge
Accession Number1993.38
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Painters from Venice, particularly Titian and Tintoretto, influenced El Greco’s fondness for expressive brushstrokes across the canvas surface. The legendary Saint Catherine’s Christian faith was so strong that she refused to marry a pagan Roman emperor; in retaliation, he ordered that she be tortured. Catherine was bound to a spiked wheel, but was freed when a thunderbolt from heaven shattered it. In this painting, she holds the martyr's palm while resting her left arm on a fragment of the wheel; her right hand grasps the sword with which she was ultimately beheaded.
ProvenanceBy 1908 until about 1936, Marqués de Alós, Castillo de Balsareny, Barcelona [see note 1]. November, 1958, sold by Tomás Harris, London, to Pinakos, Inc. and M. Knoedler and Co., New York (Knoedler stock no. A7109); February, 1959, sold by Knoedler to Mrs. Charles S. Payson, Manhasset, NY; January, 1960, returned by Mrs. Payson to Pinakos and Knoedler (stock no. A7452) [see note 2]; February, 1960, sold by Knoedler to William A. Coolidge (b. 1901 - d. 1992), Topsfield and Cambridge, MA [see note 3]; 1993, bequest of William A. Coolidge to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 27, 1993)
NOTES:
[1] According to Harold E. Wethey, El Greco and His School, vol. 2, Catalogue Raisonné (Princeton, 1962), p. 111, cat. no. 201. First published by Manuel B. Cossio, El Greco (Madrid, 1908), p. 553, cat. no. 17. [2] Information about Knoedler's purchases and sales of the painting was provided in a letter from Knoedler to the MFA (September 3, 1991). [3] First lent to the MFA on December 27, 1962 (loan no. 200.62).
NOTES:
[1] According to Harold E. Wethey, El Greco and His School, vol. 2, Catalogue Raisonné (Princeton, 1962), p. 111, cat. no. 201. First published by Manuel B. Cossio, El Greco (Madrid, 1908), p. 553, cat. no. 17. [2] Information about Knoedler's purchases and sales of the painting was provided in a letter from Knoedler to the MFA (September 3, 1991). [3] First lent to the MFA on December 27, 1962 (loan no. 200.62).