The painting is a rare and faithful transposition into painting of the sculpture by Stefano Maderno, commissioned in 1600 for the main altar of the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere by the titular cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati, following the discovery of the body of the saint, exceptionally preserved intact. & nbsp;

In reality, few pictorial works depicting the Christian martyr deriving from the famous statue are known, in addition to the canvas offered in the lot: two versions performed by Francesco Vanni present variations with respect to the pose original of the saint (one formerly in the crypt and now in the Benedictine Monastery in Rome and the other in the Torre San Giovanni in the Vatican); two small-sized works, painted on copper, respectively by Ventura Salimbeni and Francesco Curradi who faithfully reproduce Maderno's sculpture (Chigi Saracini Collection, Siena and Crociani Civic Art Gallery, Montepulciano). & nbsp;