Description

This bust of Saint Cecilia represents her as a beautiful young woman, her golden curly hair tied back. She wears a pinkish tunic decorated in the estofada style with floral motifs and a headcloth covering her head. Cut across her neck is a bleeding wound, depicting her martyrdom; she was beheaded during the time of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.

Her left hand rests on a miniature organ, the main iconographic feature. It alludes to an episode from her wedding day, when, as an organ played in the background, she sang to herself, praying that God would allow her to remain a virgin forever. 

At the centre of her chest is a reliquary, framed in gold and adorned with geometrical “C” shapes. This would have originally housed a relic of the saint. Considering the predominant features of its style (elongated figure, lack of expression, the drape of the clothing, and the treatment of her curly hair) and the type of moulding used, this reliquary can be considered representative of Sevillian mannerism, from the last quarter of the 16th C.

The bust – like the other nine such pieces kept at the Iglesia de la Anunciación – originally formed part of the church’s old chapel of relics, which nowadays is used as the sacristy. It bears witness to the profound devotion practiced by the Jesuits in relation to the relics of saints, a form of worship that was promoted by the founder of the Society of Jesus, Saint Ignatius of Loyola.