Herman Knackfuss (et al.) describe this as "the jewel of the collection of pictures in the Academy at Bologna," explaining:

The picture was ordered as early as 1513 as altar-piece for a chapel in the church of San Giovanni in Monte at Bologna, but the master did not proceed to carry it out till 1516. It is an incomparable poem on the charm of music. In the centre of the picture stands Cecilia, a virginal figure of gracious beauty, with the organ in her hands, enchanted by the notes given out by a choir of angels in the air; four Saints surround her, Paul, John the Evangelist, Augustine and Mary Magdalene, each of whom is listening in his own way to the celestial notes — a perfect study of character; profane musical instruments — these were carried out by Raphael’s gifted pupil Giovanni da Udine (born 1487) who was a master of the careful rendering of nature in small things — lie broken on the ground. In the colouring the picture is music itself. [104-5]

This is the example praised by the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer as an illustration of how the power of "the idea," conveyed through art and increased by contemplation, "lays hold on the real" (346).

Link to related material

• Schopenhauer's "the æsthetical mode of contemplation"

Bibliography

Knackfuss, Herman (but written collaboratively). Raphael. Bielefeld and Leipzig: Velhagen & Klasing, 1898. Internet Archive<.span>. Contributed by the Getty Research Institute. Web. 10 April 2022.

Schopenhauer, Arthur. The World As Will And Idea. Vol. 1 of 3: "Third Book: The World as Idea." Project Gutenberg. 219-346. Web. 10 April 2022.

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Created 11 May 2022