Flemish school, second half of the 16th century.

Flemish school, second half of the 16th century.
"The mystical nuptials of St. Catherine".
Oil on oak panel. Cradled.
It has a frame of the late nineteenth century.
Measurements: 64 x 49 cm; 89 x 74 cm (frame).
The Flemish painting of the XVI century is distinguished by a notable technical precision, a meticulous detail and a deep sensibility in the representation of the matter, which turn it into one of the most refined expressions of the European art of its time. Heir to the realism developed by the Flemish primitives of the previous century, this school maintained a scrupulous attention to texture, light and color, which allowed it to represent with astonishing verisimilitude from the brilliance of metal to the transparencies of glass or the complexities of fabrics. Aesthetically, Flemish painting achieved a balance between religious devotion and naturalistic observation, integrating sacred scenes with elements of the everyday world in dense and symbolic compositions.
The cult of St. Catherine of Alexandria was widespread throughout Europe from the sixth century, is included in the group of saints helpers and is invoked against sudden death. Catherine was born around 290 into a noble family of Alexandria. Endowed with a great intelligence, she soon stood out for her extensive studies, which placed her on the same level as the greatest poets and philosophers of the time. One night Christ appeared to her and she decided, at that moment, to consecrate her life to him and to consider herself his fiancée, in a sort of mystical marriage. When Emperor Maximian came to Alexandria to preside over a great pagan feast, Catherine took the opportunity to try to convert him to Christianity, which aroused his anger. To test her, Maximian imposed on her a philosophical debate with fifty wise men whom she would try to convert. Catherine succeeded, provoking the emperor's wrath. The emperor had the sages executed, but not before proposing to the saint that she marry one of them, to which she flatly refused. The emperor then ordered her to be tortured using a machine with spiked wheels. Miraculously, the wheels broke when they touched Catherine's body, so she finally had to be beheaded. Although her historical existence was questioned by the Catholic Church since 1961, considering her a literary creation as a Christian counterpoint to the great pagan philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, she remains inscribed in the Roman martyrology freed from legendary narratives.