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Saint Cecilia
Bernardo Cavallino (Italian (Neapolitan), 1622–1654)
about 1645
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
92.7 x 74.3 cm (36 1/2 x 29 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912, Gift of Colonel William D. Sohier, by exchange
Accession Number36.269
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Cavallino painted about twenty single-figure religious and allegorical “portraits.” Music was a favorite subject: five of these works depict musicians, including three of Cecilia, their patron saint. Like many artists of his generation, Cavallino used light and shadow to enhance the composition’s drama. His clever depiction of Cecilia’s crimson gown unfurling into the background provides a lyrical, visual interpretation of the tune ushering forth from her violin.
ProvenanceWith Thomas Agnew and Sons, London [see note 1]. By 1928, Metropolitan Galleries, New York; 1935, sold by Metropolitan Galleries to Julius H. Weitzner (dealer), New York [see note 2]; 1936, acquired by exchange from Julius Weitzner by the MFA. (Accession Date: April 16, 1936)
NOTES:
[1] There is an Agnew label on the reverse of the painting's stretcher. [2] According to Julius Weitzner (letter to James Plaut of the MFA, September 24, 1936): "It was acquired about twenty years ago by a deceased New York dealer at a sale in Christie's as by Caravaggio. The painting was on the New York market for years as by Caravaggio. ...[I]n 1926-1927 when Dr. Hermann Voss...visited New York I took him to see the painting at a Fifth Avenue gallery.... Last Spring I acquired it from the Fifth Avenue gallery." The painting was certainly with Metropolitan Galleries by 1928 (the year Dr. Voss is known to have visited the U.S.); it was featured in an advertisement that ran in Art Quarterly 2, no. 15 (May 1, 1928), as by Caravaggio.
NOTES:
[1] There is an Agnew label on the reverse of the painting's stretcher. [2] According to Julius Weitzner (letter to James Plaut of the MFA, September 24, 1936): "It was acquired about twenty years ago by a deceased New York dealer at a sale in Christie's as by Caravaggio. The painting was on the New York market for years as by Caravaggio. ...[I]n 1926-1927 when Dr. Hermann Voss...visited New York I took him to see the painting at a Fifth Avenue gallery.... Last Spring I acquired it from the Fifth Avenue gallery." The painting was certainly with Metropolitan Galleries by 1928 (the year Dr. Voss is known to have visited the U.S.); it was featured in an advertisement that ran in Art Quarterly 2, no. 15 (May 1, 1928), as by Caravaggio.