How to represent St. Catherine of Siena (and how not to do it)
Year mention: 1649
Subject:
St. Catherine of Siena
Conflict:
Impropriety
Not corresponding with visual tradition
Untruthfulness/Not probable/Not corresponding to history
Criticism:

Although the saint had no external wounds, she should be painted with rays of light, as if indicating where she had the intense pains

Agent:
Pacheco, Francisco
REFERENCE IMAGE: HArteR03T09_0000
Frostispiece of Pacheco, El Arte de la pintura (1649), Seville, Simon Faxardo, impressor de libros, a la Cerrajeria

Dealing with the story of St. Catherine of Siena and how to represent it, Pacheco indicates three things to be analysed: that the saint had no external wounds, but they should be painted, and the way to paint them correctly: representation of this element is more appropriate when representing the sores golden.

“Coming to the wounds, although they were not visible, it is a matter of course that they have to be painted on her image, as we shall see. This question was dealt with by Master Fray Vicente Justiniano, in a treatise that was printed in Valencia about the images of this Saint, in 1583, and from this and the histories, we will take the necessary reasons for this attempt. […] three things are inferred, which we will prove: that she had no external wounds and that they should be painted, and the way to paint them correctly. […] those five parts cannot be signified except by external signs; and, for this reason, the Lord, who gave them to her, wants them not to be erased. And if it were against the divine will to paint them, they would not have experienced the terrible punishments that are recounted against the zealous who have dared to erase them; nor would the Pope’s consent to sell their images publicly in Rome with the marks of the wounds, which is the tacit or express consent of the Apostolic Chair; and in matters of positive law, to tolerate is to concede. And, what is more, if God did not want signs to be painted on him, to signify the feeling he had of his sacred Passion, he did not leave them in the places of his most holy body, and today they appear in the hand that they have in Rome in the convent of nuns of his Order called Majar Napoli. And, for further confirmation, now again, at the request of the Most Eminent Cardinal Borgia, archbishop of Seville, she is painted and printed receiving the wounds and, with them, by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, in the new Breviaries printed in Rome, the year 1631, where I have seen her Resta how the wounds have been painted, briefly referred to. We saw that the bloody rays became rays of light and, thus, Justinian admonishes: ‘I beg the painters that when they paint the image of Saint Catherine of Siena they do not paint the bloody wounds, but golden, or with rays of gold, as Razzi says at the end of the Life of this Saint, Adding one thing, which gave me much joy, namely: that this has been the opinion of some Supreme Pontiffs’; and this is what Fray Fernando del Castillo called ‘like the gleams of the sun shining in a mirror’. I paint them like this: on the palms of the hands, on the skin, a small, round, light, pink spot, and in the middle, like a shining star, with its rays of light, and the same in the other parts, as if indicating where she had the intense pains; the crown of thorns, on the headdresses and mantle, as it is known, that she took it out of her husband’s hands, when he gave her to choose, and put it so strongly on her head that the signs and the pain lasted many days […]”.

“Viniendo a las llagas, aunque no fueron visibles, es cosa llana que se han de pintar en su imagen, como veremos. Trató esta cuestión el Maestro Fray Vicente Justiniano, en un tratado que se imprimió en Valencia acerca de las imágenes desta Santa, año 1583, y deste y de las historias tomaremos las razones forzosas para este intento. […] se infieren tres cosas, las cuales probaremos: que no tuvo llagas exteriores y que se le deben pintar y el modo de pintarlas con acierto.[…] aquellas cinco partes no se puede significar menos que con señales exteriores; y, por esto, quiere ci Señor, que se los dio, que no se borren. Y si fuera contra la divina voluntad el pintarlas, no se hubieran experimentado los terribles castigos que se cuentan contra los celosos que se han atrevido a borrarlas; ni consintieran los Pontífices vender sus imágenes, públicamente, en Roma con las señales de las llagas, lo cual es consentimiento tácito, o expreso, de la Silla apostólica; y en cosas de derecho positivo el tolerar es conceder. Y, lo que es más, si no quisiera Dios que se le pintaran señales, para significar el sentimiento que tuvo de su sagrada Pasión, no las dexara en los lugares de su santísimo cuerpo, y hoy parecen en la mano que tienen en Roma en el convento de monjas de su Orden llamado Majar Napoli. Y, para más confirmación, ahora de nuevo, a instancia del Eminentisimo Cardenal Borja, arzobispo de Sevilla, se pinta y estampa recibiendo las llagas y, con ellas, por decreto de la Sagrada congregación de Ritos, en los Breviarios nuevos impresos en Roma, año 1631, donde la he visto Resta el modo con que se han pintar las llagas, referido brevemente. Vimos que los rayos sangrientos se convirtieron en rayos de luz y, así, amonesta Justiniano: ‘Ruego a los pintores que cuando pintan la imagen de Santa Catalina de Sena no pinten las llagas sangrientas, sino doradas, o con rayos de oro, como dice Razzi al fin de la Vida desta Santa, Añadiendo una cosa, que me dio mucho contento, es a saber: que éste ha sido el parecer de algunos Sumos Pontífices’; y esto llamó Fray Fernando del Castillo ‘como resplandores del sol que reverbera en un espejo’. yo las pinto así: en las palmas de las manos, sobre la piel, una manchita redonda, da, rosada y, en medio, una como estrella resplandeciente, con sus rayos de luz y lo mesmo en las demás partes, como señalando dónde tuvo los intensos dolores; la corona de espinas, sobre las tocas y manto, pues, se sabe, que se la sacó de las manos a su esposo, cuando le dio a escoger, y se la puso con tanta fuerza en la cabeza que muchos días le duraron las señales y el dolor […]”

Quoted Authorities

Roberto de Licio, Serm. d. S. Catalin. d. Sena Fernando del Castillo, Segunda Parte de la Historia general de la Historia de Santo Domingo (1612), 44.151 v. Vincente Justiniano Antist, Acerca de las Ymagenes de Sancta Catherina (1583), 23-24,30-31

Keywords
boil, Catherine of Siena (St.), Christian religion, Cross, crown of thorns, crucifix, Dominicans, heart, ring, rosary, sores golden, stigmata, supernatural, trampling: virgin, woman

Date mention
1649

Historical Location
Seville

Iconclass Number
11HH(CATHERINE OF SIENA)

Permanent Link
https://www.sacrima.eu/case/how-to-represent-st-catherine-of-siena-and-how-not-to-do-it/