Jerónimo Jacinto De Espinosa (1600-1667), Entourage Of - Glory Of Saint Cecilia

- Oil on canvas. Original fabric. Restorations. - The painting of Saint Cecilia, belonging to the entourage of the great Valencian Baroque painter Jerónimo Jacinto de Espinosa, illustrates the characteristics of the art of the region in the 17th century, especially the elegant and decorative style that characterized the author. In this work, the saint is depicted in a moment of absolute joy, completely absorbed by the celestial music that seems to emanate from the instruments that surround her. Her delicately modeled face is the living expression of the deep emotion produced by the divine music. The softness of her features, idealized and of immense beauty, denotes the influence of the refinement and elegance of Valencian painting of the time, with an attention to the physical beauty of the human figure that refers to the exuberant school of Espinosa. Saint Cecilia wears a tunic of a warm saffron tone, which, in addition to symbolizing her purity, gives her an air of luxury and serenity. The rich ornamentation of the fabric, with finely executed details, is a distinctive feature of Valencian Baroque painting, in which material luxury and decorative delicacy play an important role in the representation of the divine world. This tunic, which folds and falls gently over her body, is also illuminated by the artist's skillful brushstrokes, who knows how to play with light to highlight the richness of colors and textures, in a clear demonstration of his mastery of oil painting. The face of Saint Cecilia is captured with a sensory realism that transmits, beyond her physical beauty, the spiritual ecstasy that the saint feels when listening to the music that inspires her devotion. This expression reflects not only the virtuosity of Valencian artists in capturing human emotion, but also the deep connection between faith and musical art in the Baroque tradition. The relationship between music and the divine, so evident in Cecilia's depiction, underlines the transcendental power of art, a recurring theme in Spanish Baroque, where religious emotion and personal devotion were intensely expressed. The composition, in addition to being imbued with that soft decorative elegance typical of Espinosa, is framed in a false oval, a key element of the architectural trompe-l'oeil to which the scene is circumscribed, which refers to the classic form of the "breaking of glory", so characteristic of Valencian Baroque. This compositional element gives the scene a sense of celestial movement, as if the saint were emerging from the clouds of heaven, surrounded by a radiant golden light emanating from a background of carefully arranged clouds, seeking to draw the viewer's gaze to the center of the scene. The explosion of light and color resulting from the burst of glory not only gives the scene an aura of divinity, but also transmits the idea of ​​music as something celestial, beyond the earthly. This work, like so many others of the Spanish Baroque after Velázquez's death, embodies the technical and decorative perfection that characterized the painters of the time, who merged religious devotion with an atmosphere of luxury and detail, without losing the emotional depth that accompanies faith. In Espinosa's painting, the richness of the fabrics, the intensity of the light and the emphasis on emotional expression reinforce the message of the work: music, like holiness, is a path to the divine. The saint, immersed in her musical ecstasy, symbolizes that union between art and the transcendental that so profoundly defined the Baroque, especially in the Valencian region, where ornamentation, light and color become vehicles for the exaltation of the sacred. - Dimensions of the image without frame: 134 x 98 cm / 152 x 116 cm with magnificent antique gilded frame. - The Montbaron Gallery includes a technical sheet drawn up by a qualified art historian with all its lots. This form is sent in digital format and on request.