John William Waterhouse

victorian-era

Waterhouse Paintings 1849 - 1917 Painter, England, Victorian Romanticism

Saint Cecilia, 1895

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Religious Paintings

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OIL PAINTING: Saint Cecilia, 1895
      Cecilia lived in Rome around 230 AD. She is famous for taking a lifelong vow of chastity which she kept despite her enforced marriage. She converted her husband to Christianity and both suffered martyrdom. In medieval times, a misreading of her Acts led to her connection with church music and when the Academy of Music was established at Rome in 1584, she was adopted as its patroness. Her saint's day is celebrated on 22 November.
      This painting of Waterhouse - Saint Cecilia was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1895, with the quotation from Tennyson's 'The Palace of Art':
      'In a clear walled city on the sea. Near gilded organ pipes - slept St. Cecily'