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Saint Catherine of Siena

Spagna, Lo (Giovanni di Pietro; Italian, active 1504–28)

1510–15

Medium: Tempera and oil on panel
Classification: Painting
Dimensions: 107.8 × 50.3 cm (42 1/2 × 19 3/4 in.); Framed: 118.2 × 61.6 × 10.2 cm (46 1/2 × 24 1/4 × 4 in.)
Culture: Italy
Museum: Art Institute of Chicago, Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Rights: Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it: Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed

About this work

This panel represents Catherine Benincasa of Siena, one of the most influential women of the late Middle Ages. Affiliated with the Dominican order, she was renowned for her devotion to the poor and sick as well as for her mystical visions. In one such vision, she saw herself marked with Christ’s wounds from his crucifixion, known as the stigmata. These marks are faintly visible on the backs of her hands in this painting and help identify her. The artist, called Lo Spagna, was a gifted follower of Perugino, whose work is on view nearby.