The panel with the full-figure Saint Catharine was probably positioned in the lower level of a polyptychon, at the side of a crowned Madonna or a holy figure. In the first half of the fifteenth century the Vivarini family of painters was one of the leading Venetian workshops that specialized in the production of multi-pieced altars. They worked not only for patrons in Venice but had also had commissions in the Marche, Dalmatia, Calabria and Apulia. After 1450 the partnership between Antonio Vivarini and the German Artist Giovanni d'Alemagna was interrupted by the death of the latter and a collaboration between the brothers Antonio and Bartolomeo has been confirmed. Together they signed the monumental altarpiece for the Certosa in Bologna (today in the Pinacoteca in Bologna). The depiction of Saint Catherine displays the for the Vivarini workshop typical use of egg tempera as well as the punched design on the halo, which consists of an internal and external row of pearls as well as a row of rosettes between which are circles. This can be found in other works by the Vivarinis (for instance the polyptychon for San Francesco Grande in Padua), which can be dated to the period ca. 1453-60. Ca. 1450-60 paintings can be found that reveal both the soft painting style of Antonio, that is, they were executed by him or by his assistant, as well as those which differ in that their painterly style is more graphic, such as, for instance, in the contouring of forms. This style of painting is to be found in the presentation of Saint Catharine: although the typical finely stroked tempera painting is recognizable, nonetheless the dark brown contouring of the hands is not to be overseen and points to the hand of Bartolomeo. In addition, unlike Antonio Vivarini, Bartolomeo aimed for a figural style which favours a long, oval face and accordingly his orientation towards Andrea Mantegna. In this point, too, the Saint Catharine panel shows a clear affinity to the works of Bartolomeo Vivarini, in particular to the polyptychon in Osimo, where at the upper level the figures of Saint Catharine and Saint Maria Magdalena present a very similar facial presentation, for instance the irregular arrangement of the eyes or the presentation of their hair, which frames the face like a cap. The polyptychon from Osimo is considered one of the earliest work in which Bartolomeo developed his individual style. One can assume that the panel with Saint Katharine was painted ca. 1465 and that it can be attributed to Bartolomeo Vivarni.
We thank Catarini Schmidt Arcangeli for her support in the cataloguing of this panel.