FRANCIA, Francesco
(b. 1450, Bologna, d. 1517, Bologna)

Legend of Sts Cecilia and Valerian, Scene 8

1504-06
Fresco
Oratory of St Cecilia, San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna

Scene 8 of the Cecilia cycle in the Oratory of St Cecilia, painted by an unidentified collaborator of Francesco Francia, depicts the martyrdom of St Cecilia. We see Cecilia standing naked in the cauldron of boiling water from which she emerged unscathed. One young man kneels down to poke the fire; another, seen in a provocative pose from the back, leans still more split logs against the furnace. A soldier standing behind Cecilia is about to strike her with his sword. The prefect sits on a throne to the right.

This painting is now very badly deteriorated.




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