after Domenichino 1581-1641
After early success as a portrait painter in New York, West sailed to Italy in 1760. He spent three years studying there, mainly in Rome, before settling in London in 1763. St. Cecilia was painted around 1761 during this period in Italy. There has been some confusion over the title of this piece. It is a copy after the Cumaean Sibyl by Domenichino, which is held at the Borghese Gallery in Rome. West's copy of this Sibyl, however, features a musical score and instrument, suggesting that the figure is in fact St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music. It is improbable that the musical score is of an actual piece, however, due to the absence of bar lines and the rather odd disposition of some of the note patterns.
