Flemish school; 17th century.

Flemish school; XVII century.
"Saint Cecilia".
Oil on copper.
Measurements: 40 x 29 cm; 48 x 37 cm (frame).
In this image of religious character, since its protagonist is Santa Cecilia, accompanied by several angels, the artist manages to move the viewer beyond the sacred content, providing an image of sensory character. The scene invites to reflect allegorically, since the artist proposes in the same scene different actions that allude directly to the senses, such as sight and smell, represented by the vegetation, and hearing through the action of the saint. This interest in this representation is very reminiscent of the works of the five senses by the painter Rubens and Brueghel, which today are in the Prado Museum and which, as in this particular case, show a composition that stands out for the abundance and precise detail of all the elements that make up the scene.
Saint Cecilia, the most popular of the Roman martyrs together with Saint Agnes. A young patrician of the Caecilian family, she was forced by her parents to marry, although in the bridal chamber she converted her husband to the ideal of Christian chastity. The young husband had himself and his brother baptized, and both were condemned to death. Because Cecilia refused to offer sacrifices to the gods, she was condemned to die by drowning in the steam of an overheated cauldron, but a heavenly dew refreshed her. She was then ordered to be beheaded, but her executioner struck her three blows without succeeding in separating her head from her body. Since Roman law forbade further beating of the condemned after these three attempts, Cecilia survived for three days. She died in the presence of Pope Urban and was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus. Saint Cecilia is, since the 15th century, the patron saint of musicians, singers and organists, as well as of organ and string instrument makers. Originally St. Cecilia, like most of the martyrs, did not wear any identifying attribute. It was at the end of the 15th century, when she became the patron saint of musicians, that she received a musical instrument as an attribute, a portable or fixed organ.