Saint Cecilia - Watercolor after Domenichino

Original and finely painted watercolor on vellum of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music, playing a viola da gamba, after the Italian Baroque painter Domenichino's well-known depiction of the saint (Louvre INV. 793). Ca. 1700. Oval;  in contemporary carved and gilded wooden frame. 19 x 24 cm.

Saint Cecilia is depicted holding a bass viol with seven strings. The curving lines of the instrument mirror Saint Cecilia's loose gown, the perfect oval of the saint's face, the detailed rendition of her hairstyle and gown, and the delicacy of her hands make her a vision of the Mannerist ideal of feminine beauty. 

Domenichino holds a pivotal place in the development of Baroque Classicism in Rome, and his frescoes in the Polet chapel at San Luigi dei Francesi are amongst the principal examples of that style. The body of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music, was discovered in a miraculous state of conservation in Rome in 1599 and Domenichino may have painted the work on which this is based around 1617, shortly after his return to Bologna. He saw Raphael's Saint Cecilia (1514) in Bologna and doubtless learned the principles of Roman classicism from Raphael's example. (15020)

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Art

Art & Design

Classical Music

$2,500.00

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