The Miraculous Communion of Saint Catherine of Siena

Domenico Beccafumi

about 1513–1515

Oil and gold leaf on panel, Oil

J. Paul Getty Museum

A religious ceremony takes place in a church interior with several figures kneeling before an altar. A priest stands at the altar, facing away from the viewer. A religious ceremony takes place in a church interior with several figures kneeling before an altar. A priest stands at the altar, facing away from the viewer. This small panel depicts an episode from the life of the Dominican tertiary and mystic, Saint Catherine of Siena, as described in her biography of 1385, written by her confessor, Raymond of Capua. Receiving the sacrament of Communion gave Saint Catherine visions and ecstasies that lasted hours and left her physically exhausted. Stricken with illness and bedridden, her companions convinced her to not attend church. Catherine acquiesced but prayed for God’s help in receiving th