Saint Cecilia

Cecilia, a Christian woman, vowed to preserve her virginity. On the day of her marriage she is singing hymns next to an organ and begging God to not allow her to be disgraced. Her fiancé Valerian will not be able to see the guardian angel and win Cecilia unless he agrees to be baptized.

The figure recorded in three-quarter section is sitting at an organ and holding fictitious scores on her lap with one hand, while the other hand brings a sound from the instrument by not very convincingly pressing a key. The trees in the window are as if meticulously recorded. The depth is increased by the hint of a curtain.

The painting that is closest to the Bratislava painting of Mary Magdalene is located in Washington D.C. (Howard University Gallery of Art) and attributed to Giampietrino. Its formal quality places it above several replicas. One version which had been registered for a long time was offered in auction in 1984.

Neither the signed painting nor the biography of Giampietrino is known. He took his name based on a reference from Leonardo’s (1452–1519) manuscript. Currently he is believed to be Pietro Giovanni Rizzoli, who did altar paintings and a series of small formats with half figures of saints and heroines of ancient times for private orders in the early 16th century.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Saint Cecilia, which was part of a secret collection was offered at Christie’s auction which took place on March 16–17, 1787 in London. This painting, probably identical to the auctioned one, from the collection of Jozef Brunswick in Dolná Krupá, was registered with the same designation for a long time. However, it is not even an authentic work of Giampietrino, but a free copy and imitation from a later period. This is borne out by its appearance information from the restoration documentation, according to which the structure does not correspond to Giampietrino’s technique; instead of spolvero, they noticed a grid in the underdrawing.
 

Zuzana Ludiková ● LUDIKOVÁ, Zuzana - BURAN, Dušan. Talianska maľba = Italian Painting. Bratislava : Slovenská národná galéria, 2013. 242 strán. ISBN 9788080591748.