Plautilla Nelli (1524-1588) was a Renaissance convent-painter and the first known female artist of Florence. She entered the convent of Santa Caterina da Siena at the age of 14. Nelli had her working studio within the abbey. Giorgio Vasari includes her among just four women in his ‘Lives of Artists’ and writes that ‘there were so many of her paintings in the houses of gentlemen in Florence, it would be tedious to mention them all’. Yet, until 2006, only three works were attributed to her. Advancing Women Artists (AWA) foundation raised attention to Nelli’s work when first restored one of her artworks in 2006. Nelli was the first woman to paint a monumental Last Supper scene. At a time that women were banned from studying anatomy, the self-taught artist created a life-size depiction of Jesus and twelve Apostles. The artwork was hidden for centuries and only presented to the public in 2019 after its restoration, following a four-year campaign by AWA. Today the artwork is installed in Santa Maria Novella’s museum in Florence. Her large-scale devotional paintings, among them Lamentation with Saints, Saint Catherine and Saint Dominic Receives the Rosary, were a precious exception in art history. Lamentation with Saints conveys her attention to detail realism and rendition of tonal contrasts.
Links
www.widewalls.ch/magazine/plautilla-nelli-last-supper
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/renaissance-nuns-last-supper-scene-goes-view-florence-180973374
advancingwomenartists.org/art-in-need/what-can-i-help-restore-now/nellis-saint-dominic-receives-the-rosary
www.smn.it/en/magazine/the-last-supper-by-plautilla-nelli-in-santa-maria-novella
