Saint Cecilia (Artemisia Gentileschi)
Santa Cecilia is an early painting, from c. 1620, by the Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, a painter described as "a grand exception in the history of art - a successful woman painter in an era in which art was dominated by men."[1]
| Saint Cecilia | |
|---|---|
| Saint Cecilia as a Lute Player | |
 | |
| Artist | Artemisia Gentileschi  |
| Year | 1620 |
| Dimensions | 108 cm (43 in) × 78.5 cm (30.9 in) |
| Identifiers | Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur ID: 08011668 |
Description
It shows a woman in a yellow gown and white chemise playing a lute, with an organ in the background. A cleaning in 1988 made the organ visible and confirmed the depiction of Saint Cecelia an early Christian martyr who later became associated with musical instruments.[2]
Provenance
It is believed to have been painted in 1620 and is known to be in the collection Alessandro Biffi by 1637.[3] It passed to the Spada collection in the seventeenth century as a means of settling debts and is currently in the Galleria Spada in Rome.[3] In 1759 it was inventoried as "school of Titian", then later ascribed to Caravaggio and Caroselli, before being suggested as a work of Artemisia in 1911.[4]
References
- Locker 2015, p. 1.
- Christiansen & Mann 2001, p. 352.
- Christiansen & Mann 2001, p. 350.
- Bissell 1999, p. 333.
Sources
- Bissell, R. Ward (1999). Artemisia Gentileschi and the Authority of Art : Critical Reading and Catalogue Raisonné. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 9780271017877.
- Christiansen, Keith; Mann, Judith Walker (2001). Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi. New York; New Haven: Metropolitan Museum of Art ; Yale University Press. ISBN 1588390063.
- Locker, Jesse M. (2015). Artemisia Gentileschi: The Language of Painting. New Haven, Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300185119.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)