(Bologna active 1511–1551)
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine,
oil on panel, 68.3 x 57.8 cm, framed

We are grateful to Daniele Benati for confirming the attribution after examination of the painting in the original.

The present panel depicting the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine exemplifies Pupini’s artistic output from the 1530s. The garments and the typology of the Christ child can be compared to the Madonna and Child with Saints of circa 1535 in the church of San Giuliano, Bologna (fig. 1). The elegant features of the Madonna, based on the models of Parmigianino and derived from Girolamo da Carpi, are similar. The physiognomy of Joseph, on the other hand, finds its closest parallel in that of the priest in Pupini’s Marriage of the Virgin, also datable to the mid-1530s (Florence, Palazzo Pitti, inv. 1890 no. 6022).

The mystical marriage of Saint Catherine, a subject frequently depicted in Western Art, is based on a vision received by Catherine of Alexandria, in which the virgin saint went through a mystical marriage ceremony with Christ, in the presence of the Virgin Mary. Following early sources, Saint Catherine is dressed as a princess in rich clothes and a tiara, with loose long blonde hair carrying her martyr’s palm. In addition to the three central characters, Saint Joseph appears in prayer behind the Virgin Mary.

According to Malvasia (Pitture di Bologna, 1696), Biagio Pupini was a pupil of Francesco Francia. Known to have been a gifted musician, he is first recorded as a master painter in 1511, when he collaborated with Bartolomeo Ramenghi, called Bagnacavallo, on the now-lost fresco decorations in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, Faenza. In 1524, Pupini painted for the Collegio di Spagna in Bologna the fresco of the Holy Family with Saint Elisabeth, the Infant Saint John and Egidio Albornoz. The composition was inspired by Raphael’s so-called Holy Family of Francis I (Paris, Louvre). In the following years, Pupini worked alongside the Ferrarese artist Girolamo da Carpi on the fresco decorations in the sacristy of San Michele a Bosco, Bologna. He executed the figures of the Evangelists in the octagons on the ceiling and the Old Testament scenes in the lunettes. These latter scenes display the influence of Polidoro da Caravaggio, possibly reflecting visit by Pupini to Rome (see A. M. Fioravanti Baraldi, Biagio Pupini detto dalle Lame, in: V. Fortunati Pietrantonio (ed.), Pittura bolognese del ‘500, I, Bologna, 1986, p. 187). From the mid-1520s, Pupini’s was stylistically inspired by Girolamo da Carpi and also revealed his awareness of Parmigianino, whose pictures painted in Bologna between 1527 and 1530, had a major impact. In 1536, Pupini collaborated with Girolamo da Carpi, Garofalo, Battista Dossi and others on the decorations of the Villa d’Este in Belriguardo (Sala delle Vigne). In 1539, he was again in Bologna, where, around 1545, he painted St. Ursula and her Companions for a chapel in the church of San Giacomo. In 1551, Pupini signed a codicil to his will, after which no further documents mentioning him are known (ibid., p. 189).