Bologna, Pinacoteca: St Cecilia

This postcard reproduces the painting Estasi di Santa Cecilia by Raffaello Sanzio. Dating from 1514 the painting now hangs in the Pinacoteca Museum in Bologna, Italy. The painting shows the saint in center surrounded by St Paul, St John the evangelist, St Augustine and Mary Magdelene. Cecilia is holding (barely) a portativ organ. It is upside down, and a couple of pipes are missing. At her feet are other musical instruments. Overheard is a chorus of angelic figures. I cannot determine exactly how the painting was executed. Mention is made in the sources of a "board," "canvas," and "altarpiece." During the Napoleonic Wars the piece was removed to Paris, but ultimately returned.

The museum website includes this information.


Incisori bolognesi ed emiliani del sec. XVI, schede di S. Ferrara, revisione di G. Gaeta Bertelà, Bologna, 1975, n. 37; M. Bietti in L'estasi di Santa Cecilia di Raffaello da Urbino nella Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, catalogo della mostra (Bologna 1983), Bologna,1983, p. 350, n. 53; S. Massari, Giulio Bonasone, Roma, 1983, I, p. 34, n. 2a; M. Cirillo Archer, The Illustrated Bartsch, 28 Commentary, New York, 1995, pp. 284-285, n. 074; M. Faietti, Giulio Bonasone disegnatore, in "Grafica d'Arte", 11, 2000, 44, p. 4; E. Rossoni, Stampe di Giulio Bonasoni pittore e intagliatore, in "Aperto. Bollettino del Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe della Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna", n. 1, 2008, www.aperto.pinacotecabologna.beniculturali.it/

Bolognese engravers and Emilians of the century XVI, cards by S. Ferrara, revision by G. Gaeta Bertelà, Bologna, 1975, n. 37; M. Bietti in The Ecstasy of Santa Cecilia by Raffaello da Urbino in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, catalog of the exhibition (Bologna 1983), Bologna, 1983, p. 350, n. 53; S. Massari, Giulio Bonasone, Rome, 1983, I, p. 34, n. 2a; M. Cirillo Archer, The Illustrated Bartsch, 28 Commentary, New York, 1995, pp. 284-285, n. 074; M. Faietti, Giulio Bonasone designer, in "Graphic Art", 11, 2000, 44, p. 4; E. Rossoni, Prints by Giulio Bonasoni painter and engraver, in "Open Bulletin of the Cabinet of Drawings and Prints of the National Art Gallery of Bologna", n. 1, 2008, www.aperto.pinacotecabologna.beniculturali.it/

Elsewhere it includes this explanation.
Eseguita intorno al 1518 per la cappella della beata Elena Duglioli, che aveva costruito la propria immagine di santità richiamandosi alla leggenda di santa Cecilia. La figura della martire viene proposta in una inedita raffigurazione "musicale" carica di significati simbolici, che agli occhi del devoto richiama i temi dell'amore divino e del disprezzo dei beni mondani, simboleggiati dagli strumenti della musica terrena e profana abbandonati a terra. Una delle opere predilette dai Carracci e da Guido Reni, rivestì un ruolo fondamentale nell'ambito della cultura figurativa dell'Ideale Classico seicentesco.

Performed around 1518 for the chapel of Blessed Elena Duglioli, who had built her own image of holiness recalling the legend of St. Cecilia. The figure of the martyr is proposed in an unprecedented "musical" representation charged with symbolic meanings, which in the eyes of the devotee recalls the themes of divine love and the contempt of worldly goods, symbolized by the instruments of earthly and profane music left on the ground. One of the works favored by the Carracci and Guido Reni, played a key role in the figurative culture of the classic seventeenth century. 

My postcard is in black and white, with red lettering on the front. There is no additional identifying information on the reverse. The word(s) "postcard" appear in a remarkable 16 different languages on the reverse!