Saint Cecilia (oil on canvas), by Sidney Meteyard (1868-1947), Private collection
St Cecilia famed as the patron saint of music inspired a cult which can be dated to the sixth century. She is thought to have lived in the second or third century, during the time of persecutions of the first Christians. Little historical evidence remains of her life, so we must rely on legends which tell of her life and martyrdom. Having taken a vow of chastity, Cecilia persuaded her future husband Valerius a pagan to honour her vow. Valerius converted to Christianity and was soon executed. Cecilia was arrested, tortured and finally died from a sword-blow to the neck. As she lay dying she distributed her wealth to the poor. Her piety became associated with a love of music. As we see in the English artist Sidney Meteyard’s painting, Cecilia is depicted playing an organ, or less frequently a lute. The artist lived and worked in Birmingham, which had become a centre associated with the art movement known as the “Pre-Raphaelites Brotherhood.” These artists championed the style associated with Italian painters of the fourteenth and early fifteenth-centuries. The Brotherhood sought above all to evoke a mood of dreamy romantic detachment from what they viewed as the increasingly oppressive onslaught of the Industrial Age. Their figures drift through interiors wearing loose-fitting gowns in jewel-like colours. Meteyard sustains a mood of serene introspection throughout the composition. St Cecilia’s attention remains wholly devoted to the illuminated score before her. The organ pipes which separate the blue winged angel listening devotedly to the music distance this figure from the saint. Further clues to help the viewer interpret this atmosphere of innocence, tinged with sorrow, may be found in the rose bush which presses up against the enclosing wall. The red of the roses and of her floral head-band symbolise her martyrdom.
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