The Martyrs Cecilia, Valerian and Tiburtius

Orazio Gentileschi

Download hi-res image TITLE The Martyrs Cecilia, Valerian and Tiburtius
AUTHOR Orazio Gentileschi
DATE 1606 - 7
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS cm 350 x 218
INVENTORY 107
ROOM XXIX
Work on display

This painting, signed on the base of the organ, is one of the most Caravaggesque works by this artist who met and associated with Caravaggio in Rome and who also saw the Death of the Virgin now in the Louvre, a composition which he echoes here in the large red curtain. The scene shows an angel appearing to Cecilia and her husband Valerian, a convert to Christianity, bearing a wreath of flowers symbolising marriage but also a palm alluding to martyrdom. The groom’s brother Tiburtius looks on.