As LACMA prepares for the 2026 public opening of the new David Geffen Galleries, the future home of the museum’s permanent collection spanning a breadth of eras and cultures, we’re sharing 50 iconic artworks that will be on view in the building over the next 50 weeks in the series 50 Works 50 Weeks.
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (1680–82) is Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s last autograph painting and the work of art that allegedly cost the artist his life. It has been said that Murillo died from complications related to a fall, supposedly after slipping off scaffolding while painting the final version of the composition for the high altar of the church of the Capuchin convent in Cádiz, Spain.
This small-scale canvas is Murillo’s study for the final Cádiz altarpiece painting. It portrays Saint Catherine kneeling before the Christ Child seated on the lap of the Virgin Mary, who appears to be perched on clouds hovering above the steps leading to a magnificent church’s high altar. The ethereal effect of Murillo’s loose sketch suits this depiction of the dream reported by Saint Catherine of Alexandria in which the infant Christ appeared with the Virgin Mary and placed a ring on the saint’s finger as a sign of their mystical marriage. While the central focus is rendered in relative detail, the surrounding figures melt into loosely applied brushstrokes, suggesting a work in progress.
After Murillo’s death, the artist’s assistant Francisco Meneses Osorio employed Murillo’s sketches to finish the altarpiece. The final composition does not differ much from Murillo’s vision, but this painted study embodies an element of softness that came to define his work, giving visitors the opportunity to see the artist’s final painting as he intended when it is installed in the David Geffen Galleries.