Mary sits on her throne beneath a rich brocade canopy of honor, holding the child Jesus on her lap.

[3] Emperor Maxentius tortured Catherine on an iron-spiked wheel and later, when she proclaimed herself married to Christ, cut off her head.

[1] She extends her left hand to the Christ Child who places the ring on her finger, symbolizing their spiritual or mystical betrothal.

[1] James Snyder writes that typical of Memling's art, "the drama of the moment is in no way reflected by the expressions on the faces of the participants.

"[3] St Barbara, sits across from Catherine,[3] in front of her emblem, the tower where her father had her imprisoned and where she was secretly baptized.

[4] In 1910 James Weale identified Catherine as probably an early portrait of Mary of Burgundy and Barbara as the earliest likeness of Margaret of York,[5] which medieval art historian Thomas Kren thinks is plausible.

[4] A common Marian presentation in Late Gothic art was the hortus conclusus, depicting the Virgin and Child in an enclosed garden.

The latter gained popularity in the Low Countries during the late 15th century; the setting was almost always in an enclosed garden, the grouping always included Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine and Barbara.

Depending on the wishes of the donor or the purpose of a work, other virgin saints such as Dorothy or Cecilia were added to the grouping.

Technical examination reveals significant differences between Memling's style and the hand that executed the arbor: the green pigments differ from the pigments used for the green background landscape; and the brushstrokes "are broader and more descriptive of nature than are the schematic strokes that characterize the stylized trees and bushes of the background landscape".

[10] An early 16th century copy of the painting at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence contains a similar motif, suggesting the arbor was added either during Memling's lifetime or so soon after he died.

[13] The function of Memling's Mystic Marriage is unknown; other than the prayer beads held in the donor's hand, which signify his devotion to the cult of the Virgin, nothing is known about him.

[15] By the end of the 1460s Memling's style was developed; according to Max Friedländer he is best characterized as "an assured pictorial interpreter of quiet mood, at his best when presenting the Virgin in a circle of female saints or as a portraitist.

[1] The nature of the black chalk underdrawings, visible via technical analyses, suggests he drew them freely before applying layers of paint to achieve a smooth surface.

[2] Memling was unique in repeating his work; according to Shirley Blum he "duplicated scenes and motifs to an extent never before witnessed in Netherlandish painting.

[19] Friedländer likened him to Fra Angelico in that Memling not so much copied or repeated his work, but rather "he pictured the Madonna as she took form in his imagination, depicting therefore always the same body and the same soul.