3-035-716 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Holy Family with Saints Anne, Catherine of Alexandria, and Mary Magdalene, 1560s. Additional Info: This panel, alive with vibrant hues and communicative expressions, illustrates Nosadella’s powers of artistic invention. Huddled closely together, the Virgin suckles the infant Christ while Mary Magdalene and Saint Catherine of Alexandria look on in adoration. Joseph stands behind them, conversing with the Virgin’s mother, Saint Anne, while two cherubim observe the scene timidly from the upper right. Sitting on the floor as a sign of her humility, the Virgin and saints are arranged in a loose pyramidal shape, and appear in contorted poses and compressed into a tight space. The faces of the three young women are classically idealized, and they are swathed in garments of bright, vivid colours. Mary Magdalene and Saint Catherine wear jewelry and expensively brocaded fabrics, which contrast with the simpler garments worn by the Virgin, Joseph, and Saint Anne.