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# According to tradition, the noble and learned Catherine sought a bridegroom who would surpass her in wealth, wisdom and beauty
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/po-predaniiu-znatnaia-i-obrazovannaia-ekaterina-iskala-zhenikha-kotoryi-prevzoshel-by-eio-v-bogatstve-mudrosti-i-krasote/
- Published: 2026-06-02T06:35:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:25:57.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Faith, Art, Museums, Paris

> According to tradition, the noble and learned Catherine sought a bridegroom who would surpass her in wealth, wisdom and beauty. A hermit monk told her that he knew just such a young man: Jesus. After she received baptism, Catherine was granted a vision of the Virgin with the Child. Christ looked upon her and placed a ring on her finger, calling her his bride

One of the Louvre's less conspicuous treasures: the most expensive painting of the seventeenth century, Correggio's "Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine". Louis XIV acquired it in 1661 for 15,000 livres.

Under Louis XIV, 15,000 livres correspond today to roughly 1 to 3 million euros, judged by the standard of living and the command over other people's labour that they could secure. The pure value of the metal in them ranges from 200,000 euros, if reckoned in silver, to 1.3 million euros in gold, while by the cost of a basket of goods it comes to about a quarter of a million.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_20692@02-06-2026_09-35-12.jpg)