The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine with St John the Baptist and other saints

Alessandro Tiarini (1577-1668) was an Italian painter and the godson of the painter Lavinia Fontana. He was initially apprenticed in Bologna under Lavinia's father, Prospero Fontana, and subsequently with Bartolomeo Cesi. He was refused entry into the Carracci Academy run by Ludovico Carracci who dominated art in Bologna at the time. Tiarini moved to Florence where he painted frescoes, facade decorations and altar pieces from 1599-1606, incuding "Adoration of the Shepherds" in Pitti Palace. He later returned to Bologna where he created masterpieces such as a series of frescoes for the Brami chapel in the sanctuary of Basilica della Ghiara. This drawing was previously attributed to Cigoli (1559 - 1613) by Pouncy, Y. Tan Bunzl and Stock and is inscribed as such on the mount. William Roscoe purchased it thinking it was by Correggio.