RELIQUARY FRAME, MYSTIC MARRIAGE OF ST CATHERINE. WOOD, BRONZE, STONE, ETC. SPANISH OR ITALIAN SCHOOL, 17TH CENTURY.

Reliquary frame with miniature, Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine. Vellum, ebonized wood, bronze, marble, agate, etc. Italian or Spanish school, 17th century. Empty reliquary. A slightly rectangular, ebonized wooden frame with a ring on the back for wall mounting. The top is topped with a gilt bronze finial featuring an angel's head and a series of architectural and vegetal elements in a symmetrical arrangement. The front has fine, smooth ebonized wood moldings and two gilt bronze bands: the outer band is engraved with gilt bronze, heart-shaped corners inlaid with agates, ovals on the central sides (with agates and lapis lazuli), and bands of veined red stone with dots; the center band, also engraved with scrolls and quatrefoils at the corners, has a miniature in the center. The miniature on vellum in the center represents a theme known as the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, and is closely inspired by an engraving by Carlo Maratta or Maratti (Camerano, 1625-Rome, 1713) made around 1645-1650 of which a number of copies are known (LACMA, inventory M.84.234.2; National Galleries Scotland, P 5316; National Gallery of Art of Washington DC, inventory 1985.54.2; Pinacoteca Civica Francesco Podesti; Musei Vaticani; etc.). Note the similarity of the frame to two pieces preserved in the Reliquary of the Royal Monastery of the Incarnation in Madrid (inventories 00620062 and 00620088), anonymous Italian works from the mid-17th century (after 1640), made of ebonized wood and bronze with paintings on copper (measuring 78 x 56 x 4 cm and 78 x 55.5 x 4 cm). The central part features scrollwork (simpler in the present version) and quatrefoils at the corners, and the similarity of the upper finial in all three frames is truly striking. Evidence suggesting a Spanish manufacture of this reliquary includes the simplification of the engraving on the bronze, the combinations of the ovules with agates of different colors around very small pieces of lapis lazuli, and the resemblance of the stones in the rectangular areas to the so-called "Cabra marble" of Cordoba in Spain (there are reports of the large-scale exploitation of a "red jasper" quarry in the Losilla district, in the municipality of Cabra, at the beginning of the 17th century; in 1627 the Cabra council bought the lands of Losilla, acquiring the best red jasper quarry known at the time; elements made of this stone are preserved in the Royal Palace of Madrid)., detectedSourceLanguage: es

· Size: 37x4x57 cms.