Saint Cecilia By Guido Reni at The Museum Of Liverpool

Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians, was venerated for her chastity. According to legend, on the day of her forced marriage to a pagan, Cecilia used the cadence of wedding music to sing to God in her heart. Seventeenth-century representations often visualize this private melody by depicting Cecilia as a musician. In this painting by Guido Reni, she holds a violin in an unusual position, balanced on a table rather than cradled against her shoulder or chest, though the careful placement of her fingers suggests knowledge of the instrument. But because the stories of some of the early saints' lives were later found to be exaggerated or even purely legend, this method eventually gave way to a more structured process. So, in the Middle Ages, a new path to sainthood was prescribed, a set of rules we pretty much still use today. Here's what happens. First of all, and probably most obvious, a person has to have died in order to be considered an official saint in the Church, because we believe the saints are in heaven with God. So at some point after their death, some fan of the potential saint, like someone who knew them or a member of their religious community, asks their local bishop to begin the cause for canonization. Guido Reni was a widely acclaimed painter and draftsman in seventeenth-century Italy, renowned for his elegant interpretations of religious and mythological scenes. His style, which fused elements of classical idealism with close observation of the natural world, was perpetuated through the activity of an exceptionally large and productive studio and emulated by many artists across Europe.