Portrait of Caterina Cornaro as Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Dublin Core

Title

Portrait of Caterina Cornaro as Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Subject

Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus

Description

Standing tall and regal in a three-quarter pose, Caterina gazes sideways at the viewer with composure, her lips pursed and hands clasped together in front of her. Her lavishly-robed figure fills the frame, positioned against a sober black background and three-quarter view typical of state portraits of the time. The fabrics of her costume include shining satins and silks embroidered with gold, dotted with lines of pearls that echo the larger pearls in her crown and headdress. This costume communicates not only her wealth, power, and nobility, but also her access to luxury goods beyond those produced in Venice. Her crown and headdress are not Italianate, but rather allude to her dual identity as Venetian by birth and Queen of Cyprus by marriage. The wooden wheel behind her with iron spikes is symbolic of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a princess and a scholar who was martyred by the spiked wheel. The association with this saint communicates Caterina’s knowledge, queenly standing, and Christian virtue (compare to Cameria as Saint Catherine).

Creator

Titian (Workshop)

Source

Agostino, Grazia et. al. Tiziano nelle Gallerie fiorentine. Florence: Centro Di, 1978.
Ciatti, Marco and Magnolia Scudieri, ed. Firenze: Arte del Rinascimento e restauro. Tokyo: NHK Enterprises, 1991.
Hurlburt, Holly. Daughter of Venice: Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus and Woman of the Renaissance. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015.

Image Source: Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/inv1890/scheda.asp?position=1&ninv=909&suffisso=

Publisher

Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy

Date

c. late 16th C.

Contributor

Dana Hogan

Format

Oil on canvas, 102.5 x 72.0 cm

Type

Painting

Coverage