Saint Cecilia with an Angel

Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music and musicians, is depicted here with an angel in one of Orazio Gentileschi's most celebrated canvases, now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Painted in 1618, the work dates from his Genoese period, when his style had fully matured away from direct Caravaggism into his distinctive refined luminism. Cecilia is typically shown with an organ, clavichord, or other instrument, and the angel's presence suggests the divine inspiration behind her music-making. The National Gallery of Art assembled one of the world's finest collections of Italian Baroque painting in the twentieth century, and this Gentileschi is among its most prized Italian works. The cool, crystalline light that falls across Cecilia's white garments and the instrument's polished surface is a virtuoso demonstration of Gentileschi's mature technique.

Canvas with Gentileschi's most refined technical execution. White garments receive sustained tonal analysis — cool shadows in the fabric folds, warm lights where cloth catches direct illumination. The musical instrument at the center demands precise rendering of its wooden construction, metal strings or pipes, and painted or carved decoration. The angel's wing feathers are built through layered strokes.