The Holy Family with a Female Saint Vincenzo Catena

In this painting of the Holy Family, the timeless clothing worn by the female figure on the right – her tunic and gown – may lead us to be- lieve that she is a saint. However, there are no attributes to identify her, neither by her side nor in her hand. Her secular hairstyle and the strip of paper in her hand, bearing the painter’s signature, seem to indicate that she is the donor of the painting. Her face is more idealised than individual in character, which was not at all uncommon in Venetian portraiture in the early sixteenth century. Catena breaks with convention by placing Joseph, rather than Mary, in the centre of the composition. The bright Mediterranean sunshine brings out the brilliance of the colours and lends the forms a sharper, more pronounced plasticity.