Although Sebastiano Cherici was primarily a composer of sacred music, he did treat of more secular subjects. In the case of "Amore piaga ogni core," the subject matter is love which "wounds every heart." This early opera was first performed in Pistoia in 1691, where Cherici was "maestro di cappella" in the cathedral of that city. He died in his native Tuscany in 1703. The beautiful libretto you see here was printed in 1698, and is enhanced with gold leaf and other colors.