"St. Cecilia"

Stefano Maderno was one of the greatest Roman sculptors of the early 17th century. His work reflects the transition from Mannerism to the Baroque style.

Stefano Maderno is known as one of the outstanding sculptors in 17th-century Rome before Bernini and during the time of Pope Paul V.

Maderno’s best known work is a Baroque marble statue of Saint Cecilia. It was commissioned to commemorate the discovery of the saint’s uncorrupted body beneath the church of Santa Cecilia in Rome. It is said that the inspiration for his statue was the body of St. Cecilia herself, as her body had seemed to be unaffected by the passage of time and so he supposedly modeled it the way she was found.

The statue of St. Cecilia can be found lying on her right side, in a simple dress tucked between her knees. The contours of her body are visible through the implication of light fabric.[6] The folds on her dress creating spots of light and shadow are characteristic of Baroque style. Her hands are located in front of her legs, as if her arms were bound in front. Her right index finger extends off the marble breaking the barrier between the statue and the pilgrims. St. Cecilia has her face turned away from the viewers and straight down to the earth. Her face being turned away helps display the cuts shown on the back of her neck that were made by the executioner. Even after the executioner hit her neck three times, St. Cecilia stayed alive for three days before bleeding out

 St. Cecilia was the Roman saint of music who was executed for baptizing her fellow Romans and as such became a martyr for Christianity.