Sr Plautilla Nelli
Pulisena Margherita Nelli
Portrait of Suor Plautilla Nelli
Born 1524 Florence
Died 1588 (aged 63–64) Florence
Life
Pulisena
Margherita Nelli was born into a wealthy family in the San Felice area of Florence. Her father, Piero di Luca Nelli, was a successful fabric merchant and her ancestors originated from the Tuscan valley area of Mugello, as did the Medici dynasty. There is a modern-day street in Florence, Via del Canto de' Nelli, in the San Lorenzo district, named for her family, and the New Sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo is the original site of her family homes.
She became a nun at the age of fourteen, taking on the name Suor Plautilla, at the convent of Santa Caterina di Cafaggio; she would later be prioress on three occasions. The facility was managed by the Dominican friars of San Marco, led by Savonarola. About half of all educated girls in that era were placed into convents to avoid the cost of raising a dowry. Savonarola's preachings promoted devotional painting and drawing by religious women to avoid sloth, thus the convent became a center for
nun-artists. Her sister, also a nun, Costanza, (Suor Petronilla) wrote a life of Savonarola. Nelli had the favor of many patrons (including women), executing large pieces and miniatures. Sixteenth-century art historian Giorgio Vasari wrote, "and in the houses of gentlemen throughout Florence, there are so many pictures, that it would be tedious to attempt to speak of them all." Fra' Serafino Razzi, a sixteenth-century Dominican Friar, historian and Savonaroliano
(disciple of Savonarola), named three nuns of Santa Caterina as disciples of Plautilla, Suor Prudenza Cambi, Suor Agata Trabalesi, Suor Maria Ruggieri, and three others as additional producers: Suor Veronica, Suor Dionisia Niccolini, and his sister Suor Maria Angelica Razzi.
is the only signed work by Plautilla Nelli known to survive.
Art and style
Though she was self-taught, she copied works of the mannerist painter Agnolo Bronzino and high Renaissance painter Andrea del Sarto. Her primary source of inspiration came from copying works of Fra Bartolomeo, which mirrored the classicism-style enforced by Savonarola's artistic theories. Fra Bartolomeo left his drawings to his pupil, Fra Paolino who, in turn left them in the possession of "a nun who paints" in the convent of Santa Caterina da Siena. Nelli signed her paintings as "Pray for the Paintress" after her name, confirming her role in spite of her gender.
Her work is distinguished from that of her influencers by the
heightened sentiment she added to each of her characters' expressions. Author Jane Fortune referred to her Lamentation with Saints and the "raw emotional grief surrounding Christ's death as depicted
through the red eyes and visible tears of its female figures" as a case in point. Nelli's Lamentation, which is now in the Museum of San Marco, Florence, has also spurred the writings of The Painter-Prioress of Renaissance Florence, written by Jonathan K. Nelson. Most of Nelli's works are large-scale, which was most uncommon for a woman to paint, in her era.
She is one of the few female artists mentioned in Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.
Her work is characterized by religious themes, with vivid portrayals of emotion on her characters' faces. Nelli lacked any formal training and her male figures are said to have “feminine characteristics”, as her religious vocation prohibited study of the nude male.
Works created, rediscovered, and restored.
Nelli produced mainly devotional pieces including large-scale paintings, wood lunettes, book illustrations, and drawings. Her paintings include Lamentation with Saints (in the large refectory, San Marco Museum, restored 2006), Saint Catherine Receives the Stigmata and Saint Dominic Receives the Rosary, in the Andrea del Sarto Last Supper Museum of San Salvi, both restored in 2008. Nelli's Grieving Madonna, also at San Salvi, is a copy of the same subject by Alessandro Allori. Her Crucifixion is exhibited in the Certosa di Galluzzo Monastery, near Florence. The Last Supper, in the refectory of Santa Maria Novella is the only work Nelli signed. Her nine drawings in the Uffizi's Department of Prints and Drawings were restored in 2007 and include several representations of the human figure such as Bust of a Young Woman, Head of a Youth, Kneeling Male Figure. The Pentecost, in Perugia's Basilica of San Domenico, is another of her most significant works, as well as her Annunciation and St. Catherine of Siena both preserved at the Uffizi.
Painted in the 1560s, Nelli's Last Supper is a first rendered by a woman.
Florence
has the richest tradition of paintings with the theme of the Last
Supper in the world. Her most significant work because of its size and
subject, it is a seven-meter long oil on canvas. Last Supper was under restoration for four years. The work then went on exhibit in October 2019 at the Santa Maria Novella Museum in Florence, across from Alessandro Allori's painting with the same theme, also painted in the sixteenth century.
Nelli's work represents a daring creative endeavor for a nun-artist of her period, as most were relegated to producing miniatures, textiles, or small sculptures in painted terra cotta or wood. By creating and signing this enormous fresco-like work depicting one of Florence's most beloved spiritual subjects, Nelli successfully placed herself among the ranks of her male counterparts, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto and Domenico Ghirlandaio, an accomplishment lost to history for many centuries. Due to the recent restoration of the Lamentation, there has been more investigation into Nelli's life and art. The Restoration of Lamentation with Saints: Plautilla Nelli is a thirty-six-minute documentary on the life of Nelli and on the process of restoring of one of her most significant large-scale paintings. The documentary, produced in 2007 by Art Media Studio, Florence, was developed and funded by The Advancing Women Artists Foundation's founder Jane Fortune and The Florence Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The documentary explores the preparatory drawings beneath the painting's pictorial surface using the process of reflectography.
It shows various steps of the restoration project safeguarding the painting against woodworms, found in the painting's wood panel and exterminated, and centuries of encrusted dust and dirt. The documentary's main protagonists include museum executives and art conservation experts such as the San Marco Museum director Dr. Magnolia
Scudieri and Florentine restorer Rossella Lari. The restored painting was completed in October 2006, and unveiled at Florence's San Marco Museum where it is exhibited in the large refectory. In her closing comment, Scudieri states, "Not only can we more clearly see the painting's expressive intensity thanks to this restoration, we
can also more fully understand the convent life of Plautilla Nelli and her time in Florence.
PBS television documentary
The Emmy-winning PBS television documentary (June, 2013) Invisible Women, Forgotten Artists of Florence, based on Dr. Jane Fortune's book by the same title, features a segment on Suor Plautilla Nelli and the restoration of the Lamentation with Saints.
The television special, which spotlights the thousands of works by women in storage in Florence's museums, hails the little-known nun-painter as "the first woman artist of Florence." Plautilla Nelli | Renaissance Rush
The Italian Renaissance Podcast
Plautilla Nelli rose to prominence in the 16th century as a self-made female artist. As a nun, she learned manuscript miniature painting, but took it upon herself to learn how to paint on a monumental scale, an occupation typically reserved for men in the Renaissance period. Her 1560 masterpiece, Last Supper, shows Nelli's keen awareness of the history of painting, especially of the Florentine tradition, as well as an acute skill in expressing color and emotion.
For 450 years, a huge 21-foot painting of the Last Supper was hidden away, because many couldn't believe a nun had created such a Renaissance masterpiece.
That artist was Sister Plautilla Nelli, a self-taught painter living in Florence, Italy in the 1500s AD. She was one of the very first women painters of the Renaissance to gain fame for her work.
She ran a successful, all-female art workshop right from inside her convent. Her talent was so respected that the famous art historian Giorgio Vasari praised her in his 1568 book, mentioning how her works amazed professional artists.
As a cloistered nun, she faced challenges her male counterparts did not. She was not permitted to study anatomy from life, which was essential for painters at the time.
But Sister Plautilla found clever and resourceful ways to learn. She studied other artists' works and used clay models and carefully draped cloth to master her craft, a testament to her dedication. ๐จ
Over the centuries, however, her name faded from history. Her remarkable paintings were stored away in convents or sometimes even misattributed to male artists.
It wasn't until a major restoration effort, completed in 2019, that her breathtaking 'Last Supper' was finally put on public display for the whole world to see. ๐
Her story is a powerful reminder of the incredible faith and talent that can be overlooked by history, waiting patiently to be rediscovered.
#SisterPlautilla #HiddenGems #RenaissanceArt
The History PageWhat's remarkable about Sister Plautilla Nelli is that she wasn't just working alone. She established and ran a thriving workshop right there in the Santa Caterina da Siena convent.
This was an enterprise entirely of, for, and by women. She trained other nuns to become skilled artists in their own right, passing on her knowledge and creating a community of creators.
Her workshop became a significant source of income for the convent, as they received commissions for devotional paintings from people all across Florence.
She wasn't just a painter; she was a leader, a teacher, and a successful businesswoman, all guided by her deep faith and devotion.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plautilla Nelli
Born 1524 Florence, Republic of Florence
Died 1588 (aged 63–64) Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Sister Plautilla Nelli (1524–1588) was a self-taught nun-artist and the first ever known female Renaissance painter of Florence.[1] She was a nun of the Dominican convent of St. Catherine of Siena located in Piazza San Marco, Florence, and was heavily influenced by the teachings of Savonarola and by the artwork of Fra Bartolomeo.[1]
Life
Pulisena Margherita Nelli was born into a wealthy family in the San Felice area of Florence. Her father, Piero di Luca Nelli, was a successful fabric merchant and her ancestors originated from the Tuscan valley area of Mugello, as did the Medici dynasty.[1] There is a modern-day street in Florence, Via del Canto de' Nelli, in the San Lorenzo district, named for her family, and the New Sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo is the original site of her family homes.[1]
She became a nun at the age of fourteen, taking on the name Suor Plautilla, at the convent of Santa Caterina di Cafaggio; she would later be prioress on three occasions. The facility was managed by the Dominican friars of San Marco, led by Savonarola. About half of all educated girls in that era were placed into convents to avoid the cost of raising a dowry.[2] Savonarola's preachings promoted devotional painting and drawing by religious women to avoid sloth, thus the convent became a center for nun-artists.[1] Her sister, also a nun, Costanza, (Suor Petronilla) wrote a life of Savonarola.
Nelli had the favor of many patrons (including women), executing large pieces and miniatures. Sixteenth-century art historian Giorgio Vasari wrote, "and in the houses of gentlemen throughout Florence, there are so many pictures, that it would be tedious to attempt to speak of them all."[3] Fra' Serafino Razzi, a sixteenth-century Dominican Friar, historian and Savonaroliano (disciple of Savonarola), named three nuns of Santa Caterina as disciples of Plautilla, Suor Prudenza Cambi, Suor Agata Trabalesi, Suor Maria Ruggieri, and three others as additional producers: Suor Veronica, Suor Dionisia Niccolini, and his sister Suor Maria Angelica Razzi.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plautilla_Nelli
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