The Childhood of Saint Cecily
Artist: Marie Spartali Stillman (British, 1844-1927)
Medium: Pencil and watercolour, heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic
Collection: Private Collection
Cecilia is famous in Christian iconography as the patron saint of music. Her connection with the art appears to stem from the legend that she rejected the sound of musical instruments that greeted her as she entered the house of her betrothed, having ears only for the heavenly music that required her to remain stainless in body and soul. In art, she usually betrays her patronal role by playing an organ; but she does not disdain other instruments, and the idea of her listening to celestial music is often represented by upturned eyes and choirs of angels.
Stillman chooses to depict Cecily as a girl, playing a psaltery and listening to heavenly voices as an attendant dresses her hair, the Tuscan countryside behind. Stylistically, the picture still owes much to Ford Madox Brown, under whom Stillman had studied for several years from 1864. There is also the clear influence of Rossetti, not from his treatment of the same subject, but in the use of the half-length female figure, having her hair dressed, which was a common theme of Rossetti’s later work. Rossetti had died the previous year, and there may be an element of memorial in Stillman’s composition.
