A young woman plays a small pipe organ while a winged angel holds up a piece of sheet music in this horizontal painting. A strong light source illuminates the scene from our right, creating deep shadows in the dark background. Both the woman and angel have pale skin, flushed cheeks, and light brown hair. Shown from the knees up and taking up the left half of the painting, the woman’s body is angled to our right as she sits at the organ, which is near the right edge of the composition. Her hair is pulled back into a braid, and wisps fall on her forehead. Her skin is smooth, and her head tilts…
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Saint Cecilia and an Angel

painter Orazio Gentileschi (Florentine, 1563 - 1639)

and painter Giovanni Lanfranco (Italian, 1582 - 1647)

c. 1617/1618 and c. 1621/1627

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 87.5 x 108 cm (34 7/16 x 42 1/2 in.) ; framed: 109.9 x 130.2 x 6.4 cm (43 1/4 x 51 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.)
Culture
Florentine
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CIS-B
Credit line
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art