1606, Guido Reni, Saint Cecilia -- Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena)
From the museum label: The Italian painter Guido Reni, who spent much of his career in Bologna, was nevertheless a conspicuous presence at the Spanish court. Indirectly, his style of Baroque painting informed the work of Spanish artists Jusepe de Ribera and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo; more immediately, Reni's canvases made their way into Habsburg collections as diplomatic gifts and through direct commissions from Philip IV. Studies of Mariana's personal inventory indicate that she owned a representation of Saint Cecilia, similar to this one, which depicts the patron saint of musicians. Such images of female saints resonated with the queen, whose intense veneration of holy figures legitimized her political dealings as expressions of piety.
1606, Guido Reni, Saint Cecilia -- Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena)
From the museum label: The Italian painter Guido Reni, who spent much of his career in Bologna, was nevertheless a conspicuous presence at the Spanish court. Indirectly, his style of Baroque painting informed the work of Spanish artists Jusepe de Ribera and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo; more immediately, Reni's canvases made their way into Habsburg collections as diplomatic gifts and through direct commissions from Philip IV. Studies of Mariana's personal inventory indicate that she owned a representation of Saint Cecilia, similar to this one, which depicts the patron saint of musicians. Such images of female saints resonated with the queen, whose intense veneration of holy figures legitimized her political dealings as expressions of piety.