(Bologna 1575–1642)
Saint Catherine,
oil on canvas, 104 x 75.5 cm, unframed

Inscribed on a label on the reverse: Della […] / Da Castani Maggio 1835 / Castelbarco Fraganeschi / […]stelb […]tta Albani

Provenance:
Collection of the Castelbarco Fraganeschi Litta Albani Family (according to the label on the reverse);
possibly Villa Miralfiore, Pesaro;
Private collection, Pesaro

The present painting relates to a composition by Guido Reni in the City Art Gallery, Manchester, a celebrated composition recorded by Malvasia with a Saint Margaret of Antioch in the Palazzo Colonna, Rome. Stephen Pepper dates the Saint Catherine by Reni to 1638–1639 (see S. Pepper, Guido Reni. L’opera completa, Novara 1988, pp. 293–294, no. 171).

According to an inscription of the reverse the present painting once belonged to one of the most important and influential families of Italy, the Albani, who were important collectors and patrons of art.
The Albani added the name of the Castelbarco during the nineteenth century when Prince Carlo Castelbarco married Antonia Litta Albani and inherited Villa Albani in Rome. The Castelbarco-Albani family also owned properties in the Marches. In Pesaro they owned Villa Miralfiore, which had previously belonged to the Della Rovere and Medici families.