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Primary sourcePaintingc. 1516-1517

The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia

Raphael · c. 1516-1517

An altarpiece by Raphael depicting Saint Cecilia with a choir of angels, commissioned for a church in Bologna.

Painted by Raphael, this altarpiece helped spread his Roman style to northern Italy.

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Painting of Saint Cecilia in the center, in a gold dress, holding a portable organ and gazing upward. Around her stand four figures: a bearded man in a red and green robe holding a sword, a bearded man with a staff, a woman in a blue and pink robe, and a young woman with curled hair. Angels in clouds above play instruments and read music. Broken instruments lie on the ground at the bottom.
Raphael, The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia, c. 1516-1517. Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting by Raphael, completed in his later years around 1516-1517, shows Saint Cecilia listening to a choir of angels, surrounded by Saints Paul, John the Evangelist, Augustine, and Mary Magdalene. It was commissioned for a church in Bologna and now hangs in that city's Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Why it matters

The altarpiece was commissioned through Cardinal Lorenzo Pucci for the patron Elena Duglioli dall'Olio, a Bolognese noblewoman devoted to Saint Cecilia. It shows how Raphael's Roman style spread to northern Italy and reveals the religious devotion and social networks behind Renaissance art commissions. According to Vasari, the musical instruments at Cecilia's feet were painted by Raphael's student Giovanni da Udine.

Look closer

  • Why are the musical instruments at Cecilia's feet shown broken and unstrung?
  • What might the varied poses and gazes of the surrounding saints tell us about what the painter wanted viewers to feel?
  • Why would a patron commission a painting about a saint's spiritual devotion rather than herself?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Raphael on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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