Painting "Saint Cecilia", Rafael Santi: description

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

A simple Christian Cecilia, who lived in Rome around 200-230, suffered for her faith, died a martyr's death and was canonized.

The rose and musical (keyboard or string) instruments are considered her attributes.

Biography

Saint Cecilia was born into a noble Roman family. From a young age, she joined the holy sacraments of Christianity. She passionately desired to serve the poor and vowed to remain pure and chaste until her death. She wore a coarse sackcloth underneath her lavish outfits.

Parents found her a groom named Valerian. He was a pagan, like his brother Tiburtius. At the wedding, Cecilia heard heavenly music and told Valerian that an angel was watching her to punish the one who dared to violate her virginity. Valerian wished to see an angel. To do this, he had to be baptized.

After the baptism, Valerian saw an angel crowning Cecilia with a wreath of roses and lilies. They began to live together as sister and brother and help the poor. Later came to Christianity and Valerian's brother Tiburty. The youth actively helped the poor, and the prefect of Rome, Turcius Alhimai, did not like it. He demanded that they make sacrifices to the pagan gods, and when he was refused, he sent Valerian and Tivurtius to martyrdom under whips outside the city. Their faith was so strong that they did not think about death, but introduced the head of their guard, Maxim, to Christianity. After their execution, Maxim told how he saw them ascend to heaven, for which he was executed. During this time, Saint Cecilia gave away all the property and converted four hundred Romans to Christianity.

Martyrdom

The young woman was also sent to the prefect, and she was to die of suffocation in the bathhouse. For three days and three nights she remained in it, but when the bathhouse was opened, Saint Cecilia was alive. Then she was sent to the chopping block, but the executioner inflicted three wounds on her and could not cut off her head. After these tortures, he fled. People went to the still alive, bleeding saint for three days to saturate sponges and tissues with her blood (article by Saint Cecilia) and believe in Christ.

Relics of the saint

The body and head of the saint were buried in the catacombs. Christians prayed before them. In the 9th century, the imperishable relics of Saint Cecilia were transferred to the church in Trastevere, and her head was transferred to the monastery of Santi Quattro Coronati. But when in 1599 the sarcophagus with the body was opened, it miraculously acquired a head. This shocked many, including the sculptor Stefano Maderno.

He carved a sculpture of a saint lying on her side. It is in the basilica in Rome, and its copy is in the catacombs.

Patron of music andmusicians

Cecilia of Rome has been considered the patroness of music since the 15th century: going to the crown, she prayed and sang spiritual hymns. The first mention of a musical festival that was held in her honor is in 1570, Evres, Normandy. Pope Sixtus V issued a special bull, according to which Saint Cecilia is considered the patroness of music. It symbolizes the central part of the liturgy. Giovanni Palestrina organized a society of sacred music dedicated to her in Rome, later transformed into the Academy, which exists to this day and is called the National Academy "Santa Cecilia". Henry Purcell and Georg Handel were the first to compose "Odes on St. Cecilia." It falls on November 22nd. This tradition will be continued by musicians of all ages (Charpentier, Gounod, Britten, Mahler), including our time. So, in 1966, Mackle Herden wrote the composition “Hymn to Saint Cecilia.”

Raphael's classic

In 1513, Cardinal Lorenzo Pucci ordered Rafael Santi to honor Saint Cecilia for the Augustinian chapel in Bologna. The patron of the chapel and the actual customer was Elena Duglioli dal Olio. She was known for the ecstatic fits that music caused her. Therefore, she asked for the image of St. Cecilia, who, by playing the organ, brought herself into ecstasy (based on the article “Rafal Santi”, translated from English). Rafael portrayed this very moment. The organ is lowered, the saint sees heavenly angels singing (detail).

Her face is full of quiet passion and delight. Her dark expressive eyes alonelooking up, brown hair revealing a clean face. The warm and radiant light of life emanates from her as she listens to the music of the sky.

Iconography

This is not a picture, but an icon, and in it every detail carries a specific load. Five figures on it are not accidental. Five in Christianity means the four apostles and Christ. In the center stands the central face - Saint Cecilia. Raphael placed her companions symmetrically on both sides. We define them by attributes.

The Apostle Paul, creator of Christian doctrine, stands leaning on a sword and holding papers. He looks down at the scattered broken musical instruments and is deep in thought. Evangelist John, bowing his head to his right shoulder, looks at Saint Augustine. Below, a dark eagle peeks out from under his robe. Further to the right, holding a staff, St. Augustine is looking at John the Theologian. Mary Magdalene, who has gone through the atonement of sins and is now pure, with a shiny dark vessel of alabaster, in her hands looks directly at the viewer who looks at her. Thus, part of the views intersect. St. Paul, in addition to broken tools, sees in them a rejection of earthly pleasures and, in addition, a simple belt that lies among them and is a traditional symbol of chastity for the Renaissance. John the Evangelist was the patron saint of virginity, and Paul praised celibacy. The belt itself is a reminder of abstinence from carnal pleasures.

Angels in the open sky

Only Saint Cecilia sees them. Raphael depicted six singingangels whose a cappella vocals surpass the most harmonious sounds humans can make. Three (sacred number) angels sing according to their book. A fourth adds his voice and hand to them. The other two are on their own. We get a series of numbers: 1, 3, 2, and in total 6. 1 + 3 gives a quart, 3 + 2 - a fifth. Harmony is output if an octave is still present. And it is there, only deeply hidden in the musical theory of Pythagoras, which we will not delve into.

Harmonious world

The whole picture of Raphael's "Saint Cecilia" is a skillfully woven wavy lines that harmoniously and unobtrusively intertwine with each other. The streams of lines are the folds of clothes, the contours of the figures of monumental bodies, characteristic of the works of this period of the painter. They all keep the viewer's eye on the image. Rafael Santi chose a general golden brown color, on which only Pavel, black-haired in a green robe and red cloak, stands out. His powerful figure and the brightness of his clothes emphasize what a huge work he did for Christianity, creating a holistic teaching. The main idea of the picture is the glorification of the purity and ideal beauty that Cecilia expresses.