Master of St. Cecilia, The Life of St. Cecilia

Circa 1300
Tempera on wood
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

In the center panel St. Cecilia sits enthroned wearing the crown of martyrdom and holding book and a small palm branch.

The eight side panels tell the story as it appears in the Golden Legend:

• Left side:
  1. Top left: Valerian and Cecilia's wedding feast
  2. Top right: The wedding Night, Cecilia says, "O, my best beloved and sweet husband, I have a counsel to tell thee, if so be that thou wilt keep it secret and swear that ye shall bewray it to no man."
  3. Bottom left: She continues, "I have an angel that loveth me, which ever keepeth my body whether I sleep or wake, and if he may find that ye touch my body by villainy, or foul and polluted love, certainly he shall anon slay you, and so should ye lose the flower of your youth."
  4. Bottom right: Cecilia converts Valerian (in red) and his brother Tiburtius (in gray).
• Right side:
  5. Top left: Pope Urban baptizes Valerian (in red) and Tiburtius (in gray) while Cecilia (in black) observes.
  6. Top right: Cecilia preaches to the men sent to arrest her, and they are converted to her faith.
  7. Bottom left: Cecilia debates Almachius, Provost of Rome, who orders her killed.
  8. Bottom right: Cecilia is beheaded while in the bath of boiling water.

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Photographed at the Uffizi by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.