Spanish school; second half of the 18th century.

Spanish school; second half of the 18th century.
‘Saint Catherine of Vadstena’.
Oil on canvas.
It has frame of the 19th century, c. 1820.
Measurements: 30 x 33 cm; 33 x 37 cm (frame).

Catherine of Sweden or Catherine of Vadstena (c. 1332 - 1381) was a Swedish noblewoman. She is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Her father was Ulf Gudmarsson, lord of Ulvåsa, and her mother was Saint Bridget of Sweden. At the age of twelve or thirteen she married Lord Eggert van Kyren, a young religious nobleman of German descent, whom she persuaded to take a vow of absolute chastity, and both lived in a state of virginity. Catherine accompanied her mother to Rome in 1349 and shortly after arriving received the news of her husband's death. She stayed with her mother and accompanied her on several trips, including one to the Holy Land. On Bridget's death, Catherine returned to Sweden with her mother's body, which was buried in the monastery of Vadstena. Catherine took charge of the Brigantine convent of Vadstena Abbey, founded by her mother. Catherine took on the task of forming the community according to the rule her mother had written and of directing the Order of the Holy Saviour, or the Brigidines. Later, she returned to Rome to work for her mother's canonisation. She stayed there for five years and became close friends with Catherine of Siena. The saint is depicted accompanied by a hind, alluding to the protection of the virginity of young girls.