  About the Artwork
  
  
  This predella panel comes from an altarpiece commissioned by the Sienese guild of the Pizzicaiuoli, purveyors of candles and other dry goods, in 1447. In a series of at least ten paintings Giovanni di Paolo presented the mystical episodes in the life of Catherine (1347–80), a Sienese tertiary of the Dominican order. Contemporary accounts of her life tell that on occasion Catherine would be overcome by rapture, whereupon she was able to explain points of holy doctrine. Her pronouncements, which were dictated to a series of secretaries, were compiled into a book titled The Dialogue of Divine Providence. Because Catherine is depicted with the halo of a canonized saint, it is very possible that this panel was not completed until after her canonization in 1461.
  
  
  Title
  Saint Catherine of Siena Dictating Her Dialogues
  
  
  Artwork Date
  between 1447 and 1449
  
  Artist
  Giovanni di Paolo
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  c. 1399 - 1482
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Italian
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Tempera on wood panel
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 11 3/8 × 11 3/8 inches (28.9 × 28.9 cm)
  Framed: 14 × 14 1/8 × 1 3/4 inches (35.6 × 35.9 × 4.4 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Painting
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Ralph Harman Booth Bequest Fund, Joseph H. Boyer Memorial Fund, Building Endowment Fund, Benson and Edith Ford Fund, Henry Ford II Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Alvan Macauley, Jr. Fund, Laura H. Murphy Fund, Mary Martin Semmes Fund, Edna B. Skelton Fund and General Endowment Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  66.15
  
  
  Copyright
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