Imagens de Santa Cecília na pintura portuguesa dos séculos XVII e XVIII: devoção, usos e funções, fontes e modelos

Abstract

The survey of musical iconography in Portuguese paintings that we have been carrying out in recent years has revealed a very considerable number of specimens with the representation of Santa Cecilia, especially in the north and center of the country. Patroness of music according to a debatable biographical account that indicates the virgin heard during her wedding the sound of divine music, Santa Cecilia appears to us represented in hagiological strategically placed on the ceiling of coenobias, churches, public and private chapels. Starting from the organisation of the Cecilian image in seven predominant typologies, we will list aspects related to her devotion, sources and models used by painters in representations, as well as the uses and functions of the Cecilian image in Portugal. This first survey and study of the image of Santa Cecília in Portugal is naturally incomplete.