The Ecstasy of Saint Catherine of Siena

The painting shows Saint Catherine of Siena in ecstasy, with her head tilted and eyes closed, wearing a pale veil and robe and a crown of thorns, flanked by two angels with wings. The composition is a tight, diagonally arranged group set against a radiant gold ground, which heightens the sense of immediacy and spiritual intensity. Carracci’s polished, naturalistic style combines sculpted modeling of faces and drapery with strong contrast and a restrained palette of pale whites and greens against the warm gold, creating a luminous, Baroque-inflected devotional image.