St Cecilia With Sts Paul John Evangelists Augustine

by Lee K. Student

Cecilia was a pious Christian woman in Bologna. Due to her resistance due to marriage, she was determined to build a prayer room in her own home in order to pursue lifelong chastity. It is said that whenever she prays, she can hear the heavenly music, which is deemed as a holy thing in the local scale. After her death, the church made the main remains buried under the altar of Roman Talatstfo. Bologna church intentionally asked Raphael to paint her portrait; however, Raphael made this portrait into a allegory.

In this painting, Raphael made the virgin surrounded by followers of Jesus, St. Paul (the first on the left), and the gospel writer St. John (the second from left). Cecilia was raising her head to listen to the heavenly music with a certain mystique. From the church's request, the ordinary Bologna women can listen to the wonderful music of the heaven because of her faith in God, and enlightened by God. Then for them, the folk instruments became secular useless things which was scattered by them. The stringed and wind instruments on her hands were also disposed of. However, the background of the earth in the painting hided the Bologna people's living shadow, foreign aggression and political unrest, just as the scattered damaged instruments could not produce the satisfied music. Another point, it is said that Cecilia had an unhappy marriage and she vowed for lifelong service of God to protect the chastity. It did not mean she renounced the secular things, but through the good things – yearning for the heavenly music, to hint that her looking for better ideal life. Here, the hypocrisy of the heavenly sound was processed in the upper painting with light colors. The enchanted state of Cecilia eagerly expressed a girl’s strong desire for happiness.

This picture had several images which are portrayed very successfully. Cecilia was just like a Fuliniao Madonna cocking her head to hear the real beauty of detached secular music, which expresses the mysterious desire in girl’s heart. The left St. Paul was just like a spectator, looking down at all the dilapidated scene on the ground; on the right side, the Magdalene was splendidly painted, which was perhaps an ideal image of the whole painting, although she was also a bystander, but kept his eyes to seem to care about the end of all things. Magdalene had an oval face, graceful figure and wore faded robes. St. Paul had a sturdy physique which was a symbol of hope for justice. Raphael used the most beautiful human things to replace this hypocrisy legend, which was the unique expression of his aesthetic view.

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