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Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileSaint Cecilia stands at the center, her gaze fixed on the celestial music of angels appearing in the clouds above. She holds a portable organ with pipes slipping from their frame, while at her feet lie scattered and broken earthly instruments like flutes, a tambourine, and a viol. Surrounding her are four saints who represent different paths of contemplation, including Saint Paul leaning on his sword and Mary Magdalene holding her signature ointment jar.
The work visualizes the Neoplatonic hierarchy of music, where the divine harmony of the heavens (musica mundana) renders earthly, man-made sound (musica instrumentalis) obsolete. This transition from material to spiritual perception was a core concern of Renaissance thinkers like Marsilio Ficino who studied the soul’s ascent through divine beauty.
Marsilio Ficino
Cecilia's ecstasy aligns with Ficino's theories on the 'divine frenzy' and the power of music to lead the soul toward the divine.
Boethius
His 'De institutione musica' established the hierarchy of music that places celestial harmony above instrumental sound, a concept depicted by the broken instruments at the saints' feet.
Object
Oil on panel
religious
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Self-photographed
1536 × 2048 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.