GIUSEPPE CESARI, CALLED THE CAVALIER D\u2019ARPINO
\n(Arpino 1568 – Rome 1640)<\/p>\n
Saint Cecilia with a Portable Organ, Another Saint and a Putto Executed in 1630 ca.<\/p>\n Martyred in Rome in the 2nd century under Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD), Cecilia was buried in the San Callisto catacombs. In 821 her remains were moved to a Church erected for her worship in Trastevere on the orders of Pope Pasquale I, where they are still conserved and venerated today. The Saint depicted here, dressed in a yellow tunic and blue cloak, turns toward an unidentified woman next to her. Herwarth R\u00f6ttgen, the most important expert of this artist, hypothesized that the other women could be Agnes or Agatha, who are mentioned together with Cecilia in the Canon of the Mass. Also taking part in the scene is a small, winged putto that appears to turn directly toward viewers, helping them share in the moment.<\/p>\n R\u00f6ttgen dated the painting from around 1630 and it is comparable to the \u201cMaria Salom\u00e8\u201d in the church of the same name in Veroli. The German scholar described the \u201cSalom\u00e8\u201d as one of the Cavalier d\u2019Arpino\u2019s works of \u201cfrigid rigor\u201d, a description well suited to this St. Cecilia as well: \u201can extremely calm yet effective chromatic balance […], the grey-azure and yellow gold spread on the smooth surfaces of the trimmed garments and the well-defined folds, encourage the eye to linger in in- finite peaceful contemplation\u201d (H. R\u00f6ttgen, Il Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari d\u2019Arpino. <\/em>Un grande pittore nello splendore della fama e nell\u2019incoscienza della fortuna <\/em>[The Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari d\u2019Arpino. A great painter in the splendor of fame and recklessness of fortune], Rome 2002, fig. 231, pp. 455).<\/p>\n Its excellent state of preservation enables a full appreciation of the delicacy of the tonal passages, particularly in the clothes of the saint, which are finished with synthetic laky glazing on the bright yellow. And perhaps the painter\u2019s adhesion, in his late period, to the ideological dictates and decisive forms of the Council of Trento explain the tenderness and expression of the Saint, whose extremely long-fingered hand seems to search for the keys of the organ while her gaze awaits divine inspiration. An image akin, as R\u00f6ttgen confirms, to the most ancient and primordial Christianism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GIUSEPPE CESARI, CALLED THE CAVALIER D\u2019ARPINO
\n<\/em>Oil on canvas
\n136 x 98.5 cm<\/p>\n
\n(Arpino 1568 – Rome 1640)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n