In dialogo con l’opera: la tavola dei Quattro Santi Coronati di Vincenzo Catena per la Scuola veneziana dei tagliapietre

This paper examines Vincenzo Catena’s Four Crowned Martyrs, currently held in storage at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, and originally commissioned in the early sixteenth century by the Scuola dei Tagliapietra, the Venetian stonecutters’ guild. The painting has received limited scholarly attention, largely due to its poor state of preservation, and it remains absent from both archival records and historical guides to Venice. However, the presence of a previously unnoticed coat of arms in the lower register of the painting offers a crucial clue for reconstructing the work’s original devotional context. This heraldic device not only asserts the civic identity and social aspirations of the commissioning guild but also anchors the painting within the communal setting of the Scuola. The essay traces the painting’s provenance and sheds light on the family – and the individual – who commissioned it, offering new insights into its original meaning and iconography. More broadly, the paper contributes to our understanding of lay patronage in early sixteenth-century Venice, highlighting the central role played by guilds and confraternities in shaping the city’s artistic landscape.