  About the Artwork
  
  
  This image of a young woman playing the violin has traditionally been interpreted as a personification of Saint Cecilia, an early Christian martyr and the patron saint of music, whose presumed body had been exhumed intact in 1599. Orazio Gentileschi may have used his daughter, the painter Artemisia, as a model for the woman, thus adding a note of realism to his representation. Orazio was deeply influenced by Michelangelo da Caravaggio — who he knew personally in Rome — as seen here in the dramatic lighting of the young model’s upturned face. Several years after the completion of this work, Orazio left Rome. Ultimately, he made his home in England, where he became the favorite artist of King Charles I’s first minister, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and Queen Henrietta Maria.
  
  
  Title
  Young Woman with a Violin (Saint Cecilia)
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1612
  
  Artist
  Orazio Gentileschi
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1563-1639
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Italian
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 32 7/8 × 38 1/2 inches (83.5 × 97.8 cm)
  Framed: 41 × 47 × 4 inches (104.1 × 119.4 × 10.2 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Painting
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Mrs. Edsel B. Ford
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  68.47
  
  
  Copyright
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