Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine

The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine
Sodoma II
1539-40
Oil on panel, 95 x 76 cm
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome

No, that's not the name of a porn star--in fact Sodoma II is the painter of this portrait of Jesus marrying Saint Catherine.

I'm not totally convinced that Sodoma II could figure out how to properly paint the ring going on Catherine's finger, so he just left a blobby, blurry bit. I'm also not convinced that's a baby's body--what, were there no babies in 1540? Were artists forced to hire 30 year old weight-lifting models to stand in for the Baby Jesus?

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