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'St Cecilia', John Melhuish Strudwick

Two female figures with halos, one of them is playing a piano

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St Cecilia is the patron saint of music. Strudwick shows her looking not up to heaven but down ‘because I think earth’s sweetest music is not an echo of heaven’s music, but something quite different…I have made my angel sad-faced because there’s always a sadness in our mortal songs.’  The painting was commissioned by George Holt in 1895.

Artwork Details

Medium and Support: Oil on panel
Date:1895 - 1896
Accession No: WAG 306

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