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Saint Cecilia in the Renaissance: The Emergence of a Musical Icon

Name: Saint Cecilia in the Renaissance: The Emergence of a Musical Icon
Price: 37.32 GBP
Availability: InStock
Author: John A Rice
ISBN: 9780226817101

by John A Rice

Hardback
384 pages
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
17.8 x 25.4 x 3.3 cm

Today‘s price £37.32

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For music lovers and art enthusiasts alike.

Discover how Saint Cecilia inspired music and art.

You’ll deepen your appreciation for musical history.

Discover how Saint Cecilia transformed from a virgin martyr to a beloved musical icon in this beautifully illustrated exploration of her influence on music and art during the Renaissance.

Our Mission

Equipping you for life's journey with Jesus:

Now a team of 60 – we've been serving the Church since 2004
Together we've raised over £1,000,000 for UK Christian charities
25,000 churches are using the Eden Plus account

Free delivery on orders over £10

This study uncovers how Saint Cecilia came to be closely associated with music and musicians. Until the fifteenth century, Saint Cecilia was not connected with music. She was perceived as one of many virgin martyrs, with no obvious musical skills or interests. During the next two centuries, however, she inspired many musical works written in her honor and a vast number of paintings that depicted her singing or playing an instrument. In this book, John A. Rice argues that Cecilia's association with music came about in several stages, involving Christian liturgy, visual arts, and music. It was fostered by interactions between artists, musicians, and their patrons and the transfer of visual and musical traditions from northern Europe to Italy. Saint Cecilia in the Renaissance explores the cult of the saint in Medieval times and through the sixteenth century when musicians' guilds in the Low Countries and France first chose Cecilia as their patron. The book then turns to music and the explosion of polyphonic vocal works written in Cecilia's honor by some of the most celebrated composers in Europe. Finally, the book examines the wealth of visual representations of Cecilia especially during the Italian Renaissance, among which Raphael's 1515 painting, The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia, is but the most famous example. Thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated in color, Saint Cecilia in the Renaissance is the definitive portrait of Saint Cecilia as a figure of musical and artistic inspiration.