The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine

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The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine

1680-1682
Paintings
Oil on canvas
Canvas: 28 × 20 1/2 in. (71.12 × 52.07 cm) Framed: 34 × 26 × 4 in. (86.36 × 66.04 × 10.16 cm)
Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation (M.83.168)
Not currently on public view

Provenance

Marqués de la Cañada,(1) El Puerto de Santa Maria (Cádiz).

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Marqués de la Cañada,(1) El Puerto de Santa Maria (Cádiz). Sebastián Martinez (1747–1800), Cádiz, by 1785, sold to;(2) Manuel de Leyra, Cádiz, sold to;(3) Captain Edward Davies, London, by 1812(4) (sale, London, Christie’s, 25–26 Apr. 1817, lot 27, “Murillo, Marriage of St. Catherine, spirited and elegant sketch for a larger picture,” sold for £7 to); Major William de Blaquiere (b. 1778), London.(5) Otto Bernel, the Netherlands. W. Hekking, the Netherlands.(6) Irving M. Scott (1837–1903), San Francisco (sale, New York, American Art Galleries, 6 Feb. 1906, lot 31, bought in [by heirs]), by descent to; Scott heirs (sale, New York, Sotheby’s, 20 Jan. 1983, lot 86, sold to); [P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., London, sold 1983 to]; LACMA.

Footnotes

(1) Glendinning and Macartney 2010, p. 46, identifies him as Guillermo Tirry (aka Terry; 1726–1763), 3rd marqués de la Cañada, noting that Richard Twiss had seen the painting with him during his travels in Portugal and Spain in 1772 and 1773. By that time, however, Guillermo Tirry was dead. The paint-ing was probably then the property of his son José Tirry, 4th marqués de la Cañada (d. 1824), who inherited the title in 1779.

(2) De la Cruz y Bahamonde 1813, vol. 13, p. 342 n. 1, states that following Martínez’s death, the collection was divided between Casado de Torres, and D. Francisco Viola, who sold it to the English.

(3) Davies 1819, p. 94: “I possessed the Barocillo of this picture. I had seen it in Spain, where, with three others, viz. the study of Santa Catalina, the small San Juan de Dios, and a small San Sebastian, were in the collection of Don Manuel de Leyra, at Cadiz, who had obtained them out of the collection of Don Sebastian Martinez.”

(4) According to Burton Fredericksen, former director, Getty Provenance Index (letter dated 27 January 1992 to Philip Conisbee, Murillo object file, Department of European Painting and Sculpture, LACMA), “Davies imported a number of Spanish paintings into England around 1812. This group, which included some works by Murillo, was put up for auction with Robins on 20 April 1812. (Davies’ name does not appear on the catalogue, but lots 12–47 at least are certainly his.) The results are not known, but evidently most were bought in since they reappeared at Christie’s on 26 April 1817. At the latter sale they were consigned by ‘Major Davis’ who is presumably the same person.” Major Davies was actually the son of Captain Davies.

(5) Probably William de Blaquiere (b. 1778), major general in army F.R. and S.A., second son of John Blaquiere (1732–1812), 1st Baron de Blaquiere, Ireland.

(6) Probably Willem Hekking II (1825–1904), who was a painter, draftsman, pen artist, watercolorist, and lithographer, active in Amsterdam.

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Bibliography

  • Lehmbeck, Leah, editor. Gifts of European Art from The Ahmanson Foundation. Vol. 3, Dutch Painting, Flemish Painting, Spanish Painting and Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.
  • Lehmbeck, Leah, editor. Gifts of European Art from The Ahmanson Foundation. Vol. 3, Dutch Painting, Flemish Painting, Spanish Painting and Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.
  • Schaefer, Scott, and Peter Fusco. European Painting and Sculpture in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art: an Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1987.
  • Conisbee, Philip et al. The Ahmanson Gifts: European Masterpieces in the Collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991.


  • Stratton, Suzanne, et al.  Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682): Paintings From American Collections.  Fort Worth, TX: Kimbell Art Museum, 2002.
  • Valdivieso, Enrique. Murillo: Catálogo Razonado de Pinturas. Madrid: Ediciones El Viso, 2010.
  • Navarrete Prieto, Benito. Murillo y las Metáforas de la Imagen. Madrid: Cátedra, 2018.
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