(Zadar? circa 1515–1563 Venice)
The Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a landscape beyond,
oil on canvas, 101.5 x 153 cm, unframed

Provenance:
possibly in the collection of the Widmann family, Venice;
art market, Germany, circa 2014;
where acquired by the present owner

Documentation:
possibly Inventario e stima d’argenti piture e mobili et altro della casa Vidman di Venezia, Palazzo a S. Canziano, 1659: in the ‘Cameron Grande sopra il canale verso la Basadonna’, a ‘Madonna S. Caterina S. Giuseppe di Andrea Schiavon’, valuation 80 ducati (Archivio Widmann-Rezzonico, Mira [Venezia] Malcontenta, Italia, Busta XXXIX, Atti di famiglia 1660–1692, sottofascicolo 4, p. 35, no. 15)

Literature:
possibly C. Ridolfi, Le Maraviglie Dell’Arte, Ouero Le Vite De Gl’Illvstri Pittori Veneti, E Dello Stato, part I, Venice 1648, p. 238 (as Andra Schiavone, ‘Gli Signori Conti Vidmani hanno vna Madonna con S. Gioseppe, e Santa Caterina’)

We are grateful to Mauro Lucco for suggesting the attribution of the present painting after examination of the original and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

The female protagonists of this Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria are richly dressed according to the fashion of the early decades of the sixteenth century, particularly Venetian. For example, Catherine’s dress, with its square neckline and ‘prosciutto’ sleeves, became fashionable around 1530. Her hairstyle, with smooth hair held by a headband in the front and tied into a long braid wrapped in a chignon at the back, corresponds to a style prevalent between the 1520s and 1540s, as seen in various artworks, such as the women in Lorenzo Lotto’s Sacra Conversazione conserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 101), Titian’s La Bella in the Pitti Palace (inv. 1912 no. 18) and others.

Another societal custom depicted during these same years is the enjoyment of spending time outdoors in the countryside, often under the shade of a tree. The harmonious relationship between man and nature, which reveals delightful views of distant places, has been a characteristic of Venetian painting since Giovanni Bellini. The aforementioned Sacra Conversazione by Lorenzo Lotto, dated between 1528 and 1530, exemplifies this connection, evoking even the sound of the meadow.

According to Mauro Lucco, this piece reflects a singular form of Schiavone’s passionate autodidacticism rather than formal study under a single master, embracing multiple stylistic worlds: the painting’s style, with its dynamic, floating drapery, suggests a unique blend of Lotto’s influence with Titian’s manner. The rhythmic and sinuous brushstrokes, typical of Schiavone, are unmistakable here, and its vibrant colors, particularly in the pink-tinged dawn on the right, echo the artist’s ability to adapt his technique to suit the visual demands of different areas of the composition.

Few documented records exist regarding Schiavone’s life and work. His year of birth in Zadar is uncertain but estimated around 1515. He relocated to Venice, likely before 1540, and may have drawn influences from various masters, including Titian and central Italian painters such as Cecchino Salviati. His only securely dated work is the Rape of Helen etching, signed and dated 1547. Around 1548, the artist might have moved to Belluno for new commissions. Schiavone’s participation in the intellectual circles of Venetian artists, including Lotto, and the influences visible in his works, particularly from the 1530s, suggest that this Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria may have been created in the late 1530s. The proximity of the present work to Lotto’s styles of that time further strengthens this hypothesis.