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About This Work
This painting is a late 16th-century copy of Raphael's famous altarpiece, depicting Saint Cecilia in a state of religious transport. She is shown having discarded earthly musical instruments, which lie broken at her feet, in favor of the divine music she hears from the heavens. The composition includes Saints Paul, John the Evangelist, Augustine, and Mary Magdalene witnessing her devotion.
The work represents the Renaissance Neoplatonic synthesis of music and spirituality, illustrating the 'music of the spheres' (musica mundana). It visualizes the transition from earthly, corruptible sound to the eternal, divine harmony of the celestial realm, a concept central to the thought of Marsilio Ficino.