Stigmatization of St Catherine of Siena
by BECCAFUMI, Domenico, Oil on wood, 208 x 156 cm
This painting, arguably Beccafumi’s masterpiece, depicts the stigmatization of St Catherine, a Sienese saint. Like St Francis of Assisi, Catherine miraculously receives the signs of the Cross. Catherine appears on bent knee with palms extended, her youthful face fixed upon the crucifix hanging on the wall. In this picture, light acts as a concrete protagonist.