Santa Cecilia, Rome

The Chiesa di Santa Cecilia is one of the most noteworthy amongst Rome's medieval churches for its valuable works of art. The statue of Saint Cecilia is placed under the main altar over the saint's grave and is the work of Maderno. The sculptor depicted Cecilia in the same way in which her body was found during the excavations of 1599, with a long cut in her neck, which caused her death after three days of agony and after having undergone the martyrdom of suffocation by boiling vapours. The altar is of great artistic importance because of the gothic canopy by Arnolfo di Cambio which covers it. The altar also holds the work of Reni, the Decollazione della Santa. The cloisters can be entered through the left-hand aisle and are well-worth visiting.