17th-century Spanish school. Circle of ALONSO CANO (Granada, 1601 - 1667), based on a model by RENI, Guido (Calvenzano di Vergato, Bologna, 1575 - Bologna, 1642).... "Saint Catherine". Oil on canvas. Size: 100 x 80 cm; 128 x 106 cm (frame). The work presents a focally illuminated background, on which stands out the figure of the portrayed, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a lady with rich clothes and fine features who turns her gaze towards the ground. Her fine gestures are striking and her distinctive attributes, such as the palm of martyrdom and the queen's crown, stand out. The saint's clothing, the whitishplexion, the magnificent and detailed drawing of the work, the chosen colouring, the forms of the woman's face and neck, the lack of accessories that distract the viewer's attention, the size of the figure and the objects, etc. all recall works by Guido Reni, such as his "Saint Catherine", executed around 1606 and now in the Meo del Prado, which Cano's circle was able to see through engravings. Due to its formal characteristics, we can place this work in the circle of followers of Alonso Cano, a key painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Baroque. Cano was also the initiator of the Granada school of painting and sculpture, and his disciples included Juan de Sevilla, Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra, José Risueño, Pedro de Mena and José de Mora. The son of an important assembler of altarpieces and possibly also a draughtsman, Alonso Cano was introduced to architectural drawing and imagery by his father, with whom he collaborated from a very early age. In 1614 or 1615 he moved with his family to Seville, where he soon joined the painting workshop of Francisco Pacheco, then the city's most prestigio master and Velázquez's de facto teacher, with whom Cano became a close friend. As a sculptor, he is traditionally considered to have trained with Juan Martínez Montañés, although there is no documentary evidence of this. As early as 1624 he signed his first known painting and two years later he qualified as a master painter. In 1638 he moved to Madrid and was soon appointed court painter and drawing teacher to Prince Baltasar Carlos. There he became acquainted with the royal collections, which led his language to evolve from its early Caravaggism towards a more colourful and elegant language, sometimes related to Van Dyck. However, in 1644 he was acced of murdering his wife, which led him to take refuge in Valencia. A year later he returned to Madrid, and in 1652 he returned permanently to Granada, where he obtained a post in the cathedral thanks to the influence of Philip IV. There hepleted the decoration of the main chapel and became maestro mayor of the cathedral. Works by Alonso Cano are currently held in the Prado Meum, the Meum of Fine Arts in Seville, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Meum in New York, the J. Paul Getty Meum in Los Angeles and the Art Institute of Chicago, among other imp