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An old inscription on the original mount of this watercolour makes it clear that the subject is St. Cecilia and that it illustrates the lines from Tennyson’s “The Palace of Art”:

‘Or in a clear-wall'd city on the sea,
Near gilded organ-pipes, her hair
Wound with white roses, slept St. Cecily;
An angel look'd at her.’

This watercolour shows the influence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti on Solomon’s early work and is clearly reminiscent of Rossetti’s famous design for a wood engraving for the Moxon Tennyson of 1857, although lacking its overt eroticism. In Solomon’s watercolour St. Cecilia, who wears a garland of roses, sits before the small organ with which she is frequently associated in art and appears to be in a trance with her eyes closed. St. Cecilia closely resembles Rossetti’s wife Elizabeth Siddal, who had died of a laudanum overdose in February 1862, some five months prior to the execution of this watercolour. The female figure in the background, who almost certainly represents an angel, holds a branch of laurel leaves, which also appear in a vase on the organ. Laurel leaves have several symbolic meanings, such as protection from evil and the resurrection of Christ. They are also thought to help a person awaken spiritually.

St. Cecilia sits on a very Anglo-Japanese appearing ebonized chair, similar to furniture being designed by progressive architects like E. W. Godwin. Clearly this work was an early exercise in Aestheticism, similar to works Solomon was soon to exhibit at the Dudley Gallery. This watercolour was never exhibited during Solomon’s lifetime, however, having been given as a present to Henry Holiday, his best friend at the time.

According to legend Cecilia was a Christian noblewoman of Rome who lived in the third century A.D. Despite her vow of chastity, she was forced by her parents to marry a pagan nobleman named Valerian. During the wedding, Cecilia sat apart singing to God in her heart and for that reason she was later declared the patron saint of musicians. When the time came to consummate the marriage Cecilia told Valerian that an angel of the Lord, who was watching over her, would punish him if he sexually violated her but would love him if he respected her virginity. When Valerian asked to see the angel, Cecilia replied that he would do so if he went to the third milestone on the Via Appia and there be baptized by Pope Urban I. After following Cecilia's advice, Valerian saw the angel standing beside Cecilia and crowning her with roses and lilies. Both Valerian and Cecilia were later martyred during the reign of the Emperor Alexander Severus.

St. Cecilia proved to be a popular subject amongst the Pre-Raphaelites, their associates and followers. In addition to D. G. Rossetti other artists who drew or painted versions included Elizabeth Siddal, Edward Burne-Jones, Arthur Hughes, J. M. Strudwick, C. F. Murray, J. W. Waterhouse, Marie Spartali Stillman, Sidney Meteyard, and E. R. Frampton. — Dennis T. Lanigan

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Created 30 September 2021