Collection Online
Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia

Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia
(1520-1525)

Medium
engraving

Measurements
23.8 × 40.2 cm (image and sheet, trimmed within platemark)

Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1923

Gallery location
Not on display

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About this work

Identified in the sixteenth century as depicting the martyrdom of Saint Felicity, this engraving is now understood to show the martyrdom of Saint Cecilia, one of the most famous virgin martyrs of the early Christian church. Cecilia was boiled in a cauldron of oil and subsequently beheaded for inciting her husband to convert to Christianity to protect her virginity. Her husband and his brother were both martyred by beheading prior to Cecilia’s death. Marcantonio Raimondi was active solely as a printmaker, establishing a successful career engraving the designs of other artists, most famously those of Raphael.

Artwork Details

Place/s of Execution
Rome, Italy

Catalogue/s Raisonné
Bartsch 117; Shoemaker & Broun 55

Inscription
printed in ink c.r.: RA• VR• IN / MAF (monogram)

Accession Number
1278.660-3

Departments
International Prints / International Prints and Drawings

This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest