MIGNARD, Pierre
(b. 1612, Troyes, d. 1695, Paris)

Mystic Marriage of St Catherine

1669
Oil on canvas, 134 x 105 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Despite its title, this painting by one of the two greatest French decorative painters of Louis XIV's time (the other was Charles Le Brun), has nothing mystic about it. The appearance of the Virgin to the holy martyr with the Christ Child, who places a ring on the girl's finger to confirm her union with her "heavenly bridegroom," is presented as an idyllic genre scene.