Saint Cecilia with an angel holding a musical score, after Domeniquin

The Château de la Motte-Tilly houses a fine copy of the original painting by Domenico Zampieri, known as ‘Le Dominiquin’, painted in Rome around 1617–1618 and now in the Louvre.

The legend of Saint Cecilia is recounted, notably, by Jacques de Voragine in *The Golden Legend*. She is said to have lived in Rome at the end of the second century. According to the legend, she was born into a noble Roman family but, at a very young age, devoted her life to God, took a vow of chastity and died a martyr. Saint Cecilia was ultimately executed because of her refusal to practise any religion other than Christianity. It is said that Cecilia sang whilst awaiting the executioner’s axe.

Her cult was particularly vibrant in Rome in the early^17th century, following the exhumation of her remains during building works at the Church of Trastevere in Rome in 1599. The sculptor Stefano Maderno, who was present at the time of this discovery, immortalised her in marble in the exact position in which she was found.

Dominiquin, a music enthusiast, depicted the patron saint of musicians on numerous occasions. Here, Saint Cecilia, whose halo is barely visible, is playing the viola da gamba, an instrument that was very much in vogue during the Renaissance. This ‘viola da gamba’, or ‘viola of the leg’, is held between the legs, as opposed to the ‘viola da braccio’, the ancestor of the violin, which is held in the arms.

However, the saint is not holding her instrument between her legs, as it is resting on a stone parapet in the foreground of the painting. Standing on this same low wall, a naked angel is holding a book of sheet music aloft on his head. Saint Cecilia, however, does not glance at these staves; her eyes are raised towards the heavens, as if inspired by celestial music. This pose is reminiscent of Raphael’s Saint Cecilia (1514, Pinacoteca di Bologna), and no doubt also inspired Guido Reni’s version from 1606 (Pasadena, Norton Simon Museum).

The work of Dominiquin, who was trained by the Carracci in Bologna, is heavily influenced by that of Raphael, despite his undeniably Baroque approach to the female figure. The two figures and the viola form three vertical masses, balanced by the horizontal lines of the parapet and the bow. A soft golden light coming from the left highlights the volumes without overly pronounced chiaroscuro. The neutral, dark background sets off the saint’s perfectly oval face. The static quality of the composition is counterbalanced by numerous sinuous lines, such as that formed by the arm wrapped around the viola, those of the viola itself, and finally those formed by the folds and drapery of the dress.