(Innsbruck 1719-1775 Vienna) The Martyrdom of St Katherine, oil on canvas, 66 x 40 cm, framed (GS)

Provenance: Collection of Adele Tschurtschenthaler, born von Gasteiger, Innsbruck (1879)

Exhibited: Tyrolisch-Vorarlberger Kunstausstellung, Innsbruck, 1879, no. 88

Literature: Andreas Hofer, 1879, p. 16; E. Leube-Payer, Joseph Ignaz Mildorfer 1719-1775, Cologne Weimar 2011, p. 58-60, colour fig. no. 40, p. 260,

Leube-Payer dated this painting in her index at ca. 1740/41. She writes: "The time of origin has often been taken to be around 1747-48, apparently based on the assumption that Mildorfer painted it at the same time as he exhibited "Jüngste Gericht" (1879), which came from the Kloster Wilten collection. The stylistic differences between this picture and those that can be dated to 1748 with certainty, however, are so great that one is forced to conclude that the Martyrdom is in fact a much earlier work, probably painted in Innsbruck or soon after Mildorfer’s departure to Vienna". Mildorfer borrowed at least two motifs here from other artists: the censer-swinging altar boy is based on a figure from Paul Troger’s "Adoration of the Magi" in the parish church in Welsberg, while the executioner is a quote from Piazzetta’s "Vision of John the Baptist" of 1741 (Museo del Santo, Padua). The "Saint Catharine" must therefore also date after 1741. E. Leube-Payer comments: "Whether Mildorfer took this quotation from his teacher’s drawings, or whether he knew Pitteri’s drawing after, we do not know. Most likely he was able to study such material at the Academy".