Giovan Gioseffo dal Sole (1654 - 1719)

Giovan Gioseffo dal Sole came from a Bolognese family of painters. He learned his craft with Domenica Maria Canuti and later in Rome with Lorenzo Pasinelli. He is, among other things, the author of the frescoes in the dome of the church of Santa Maria dei Poveri in Bologna, the altarpiece for the church Chiesa del Suffragio in Imole, and frescoes in the Palazzo Mansi in Lucca. The painting depicts St. Catherine. She is half-nude, with long wavy hair that falls down the length of her body. She gazes devoutly upwards with one hand lightly touching her breast and the second holding a crown Above her head is a halo and in the background, barely visible, the symbol of her martyrdom, spiked wheel. (expert opinion: Alessandro Delpriori, PhD, Università di Firenze)