Saint Cecilia  1895

Oil on Canvas [br] Inspired by Tennyson's poem The Palace of Art, this is one Waterhouse's most famous pictures, and it was an immediate success when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy. His depiction of St Cecilia stays close to Tennyson's brief description, but adds symbolic poppies as emblems of sleep, and also of death, as St Cecilia was a martyr. The angels play i...