St Cecilia
by ROSSELLI, Matteo, Oil on canvas, 119 x 101 cm
This canvas depicts St Cecilia, the early Christian virgin in her traditional role as the patron saint of music. The organ, her usual attribute, originated in the legend that her virtue and purity enabled her to hear the mystical harmonies of the celestial spheres. The text running beneath the score (fiat cor meum Domine immaculatum, ‘make my heart pure, O Lord’) reasserts her piety.