Author: jnkgazmy

Born in 1524, Plautilla Nelli was a Dominican nun at the Florentine Convent of Santa Caterina da Siena, Florence, a largely self-taught artist who gained popularity for her emotionally resonant religious works. Madonna del Rosario, one of her most beautiful pieces, demonstrates her mastery in conveying devotional subjects with vivid detail and emotive expression. Although Plautilla’s art was celebrated and collected by her contemporaries, it was not until the 2000’s that her accomplishments as a Renaissance painter and workshop administrator began to receive widespread recognition from modern viewers. 

Fausta Navarro, historian and curator of the 2017 Plautilla Nelli exhibition at the Uffizi Gallery discovered the Montaione altarpiece while doing research in 2016. She was the first person to attribute it to Plautilla. Catherine Turrill-Lupi, historian and Professor Emerita at California State University, Sacramento, has studied this painting and other paintings by Plautilla and her ‘Bottega’ that also have come to light recently.  

Under the guidance of Anna Floridia, with the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the metropolitan city of Florence and the provinces of Pistoia and Prato, a team of experts used a full range of careful diagnostics, analysis, and preservation techniques to uncover the original vibrancy and details of the painting. The restoration process was led by Florentine restorer Rossella Lari. The CNR National Institute of Optics provided crucial technical support for the diagnostic phase. 

Special recognition goes to the sponsors who made this restoration possible:
Main Sponsor: Tenuta di Castelfalfi S.p.A.
Other Sponsors: Banca Cambiano 1884 S.p.A., Bi.Bru s.r.l and Jane Adams of Artemisia Gold CIC.
We also thank Marina Calamai, De’Bardi Restaurant and Enoteca and Alessandro Bini s.r.l. as Sponsors of activities to promote the restoration.

Plautilla’s Madonna del Rosario is installed in the Church of San Giuseppe and Santa Lucia, Montaione, which was built in 1562 for a group of local women determined to create a sanctuary of faith. Remarkably, the altarpiece remains in its original frame, which has also been carefully restored as part of this project.

For the Mayor of Montaione Paolo Pomponi, “the restoration of the Madonna of the Rosary attributed to Plautilla Nelli represents the crowning achievement of an intervention to safeguard and enhance one of the most precious jewels of Montaione’s cultural heritage, strongly desired by the Municipal Administration. Made possible thanks to the economic contribution of some local sponsors, whom we sincerely thank for helping us to realize a project that was initially thought to be too difficult to accomplish.” “We are even more proud,“ the mayor reiterates, ‘’because this project involves a work of art located in the church of Saints Joseph and Lucy (known to the locals as ’church of the nuns”), a place that has always been very dear to the citizens and that today, after this careful restoration, sees it return to its original splendor’’.

The unveiling ceremony was followed by a short presentation about the restoration process and a guided examination of the painting, offering attendees the opportunity to learn more about Plautilla’s artistry, the historical significance of the painting, and the meticulous efforts that went into its recent restoration. A presentation that represents not only the restoration of a resplendent work of art but also a celebration of the unsung female artists of the Renaissance. Plautilla Nelli’s achievements, and those of other female artists in Florence, continue to inspire today, thanks to the dedication efforts of scholars, restorers, and philanthropists working together to save and highlight their forgotten contributions.

For more information or media inquiries, please contact:
Ufficio Cultura del Comune di Montaione
Tel: + 39 0571 699205
Email: cultura@comune.montaione.fi.it

Jane Adams
Tel: +39 335 7310664
Email: jane@artemisiagold.org

Event Details:
Date: December 14, 2024
Time: 10:30 AM
Location: Chiesa dei SS. Giuseppe e Lucia, Piazza del Municipio, Montaione

About Plautilla Nelli – Plautilla Nelli (1524–1588) was a Dominican nun and one of the first known female painters in Florence during the Renaissance. Her works, which include Madonna del Rosario, are celebrated for their devotional intensity and technical brilliance. More of her works can be found in Florence (Museum of San Marco, Museum of the Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto, Uffizi Gallery, Museum of Palazzo Vecchio), Fiesole, Siena, Perugia, Assisi, Utrecht and USA. Her most important accomplishment is her masterpiece Last Supper that was restored by Rossella Lari and unveiled in 2019, a project funded by Jane Fortune and Advancing Women Artists. The painting is now at the Museum of Santa Maria Novella, Florence.  Plautilla’s legacy as a pioneering female artist in a male-dominated field is only now being recognized, thanks to the restoration of her works and scholarly efforts to highlight her contribution to Renaissance art.

About Artemisia Gold CIC – Artemisia Gold is a UK-based not-for-profit working globally, dedicated to reviving the love and appreciation for art through education, restoration, and immersive experiences. Founder Jane Adams, who worked with Jane Fortune and the Advancing Women Artists Foundation (closed after Fortune’s passing in 2018) strives to continue her quest. The mission is simple but powerful: to rediscover, research, and restore overlooked masterpieces, with a special focus on female artists throughout history. Offering unique opportunities for students, professionals, and art lovers to explore European art from the 1200s onward. Our work not only saves important, neglected artworks but also elevates the voices of forgotten female artists who deserve recognition. We collaborate with leading institutions, museums, churches, and scholars and form global partnerships to ensure our restoration projects are world-class and impactful. Artemisia Gold also fosters a thriving international community of students, scholars, and professionals by providing access to lectures, workshops, and events that enhance their understanding of art history and restoration. We’re committed to nurturing the next generation of art historians and restorers through hands-on opportunities.

2024, in celebration of Plautilla Nelli’s 500^th Birthday Anniversary, Artemisia Gold is honoured to have participated in two restoration projects of paintings by Plautilla Nelli, including the beautiful Montaione altarpiece and a small panel painting of The Madonna and Child with Saint Dominic, Saint Catherine and Sant’Agnes. Artemisia Gold also hosted events and lectures in Florence at the Museum of Santa Maria Novella, Museum of San Marco, Biennale, Palazzo Corsini, Palazzo Tornabuoni as well as a special invitation to host a symposium at the Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin. 

2025 will see ongoing initiatives surrounding Plautilla Nelli and the presentation of a new publication about Artemisia Gentileschi and two of her most loved works: Mother and Child and Santa Cecilia at the Spada Gallery in Rome. 

For the first time, the painting by Plautilla Nelli “Madonna and Child with Saint Dominic, Saint Catherine, and Saint Agnes” (private collection) was exhibited to the public after being restored by advanced students of the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute.

A Renaissance figure and one of the first recognized female artists in Florence, Plautilla Nelli (1524-1588) entered the convent in 1538 at the age of 14, becoming a Dominican nun at the now non-existent Santa Caterina da Siena convent on Via Larga (today Via Cavour). Within the convent walls, Nelli managed to conquer cultural spaces that were then forbidden to most women, thanks to her art. Heir to the school of San Marco and Fra’ Bartolomeo, she was also an entrepreneur avant la lettre, establishing her own workshop within the convent, which involved her fellow sisters in the creation of artworks. Thrice prioress of the convent and in relationships with noble and bourgeois Florentine families, she created an art workshop On the occasion of the five hundredth anniversary of the birth of Plautilla Nelli, the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute pays homage to the Florentine artist through a diagnostic study and restoration project dedicated to her and with a thematic area set up in her honor within the exhibition “Nutrire il Futuro – Nurturing the Future” (May 11, 2024), at the Sala Brunelleschi of the Istituto degli Innocenti. composed of her fellow sisters, even being mentioned by Vasari in his “Lives”. Plautilla Nelli painted “so many pictures for the homes of Florentine gentlemen that it would be too long to talk about them all.”

An extremely important statement that inspired the research of the artist’s works by Jane Adams, co-founder of Caravaggio & Company and project supervisor of this restoration initiative for the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute. In her words: “To sum up Nelli and her great achievements as a female artist I would like to quote Jane Fortune, whose mission and love for Nelli I share – ‘Once you get involved with Nelli, once she gets in your soul, she’s with you everyday.”

Carla Guarducci, the president and CEO of the Institute commented on the project with the following words: “I am pleased to promote an initiative that enhances the activity of the Renaissance painter, Plautilla Nelli. Little known to most, she is an artist who is important to remember. Having entered the convent at a very young age, she managed to create through art and the sharing of artistic knowledge a creative and therefore, in a sense, free space, in a world where this freedom was denied to most women.”

Rediscovering Plautilla – A Multidisciplinary Journey: As part of the series of initiatives promoted in honor of the 500th anniversary of Plautilla’s birth by the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute, students from the Historical Painting course (ancient and traditional painting techniques), from the Etching course (etching techniques), and students from the advanced Jewelry Design course were inspired by the work and life of this artist to create a series of works dedicated to her, and are on display today.

Thanks to / Grazie a
RESTORATION PROJECT
Coordinator: Professor Roberta Lapucci
Project Supervisor: Jane Adams
Advanced Restoration Students: Aashika Jain, William Johnson, and Rylie Severino
The project is carried out in collaboration with Dr. Catherine Turrill-Lupi, Prof. Emeritus, California State University; Trisha Dalke, University of Amsterdam.

INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECT
Printmaking Project: Coordinated by Professor Lucy Jochamowitz
Artworks by Etching Students: Amanda Nessel; Analucia Paez Munoz; Charlotte Allsbrook; Evelyn Benitez Suarez; Girjia Jhalani; Katherine Holland; Linn Roos; Nisa Acan
Historical Painting Project:Coordinated by Professor Gregory Burney
Artworks by Historical Painting Students: Analucia Paez Munoz; Audrey Price; Conor Glesner; Emma Oeberg;
Hailey Clements; Juliana Kish; Kathryn Mcanulty; Kayla Parsons; Marlee Lord; Mauryne Audige; Sofia Piliero; Sophia Quinn; Hannah Wogalter ; Alexandra Coscioni; Grace Handy
Jewelry Design Project: Coordinated by Professors Yoko Shimizu and Francesco Coda
Jewelry Students:Charlotte Allsbrook; Madeline Ambrosino; Lily Baxter; Joel Georgii; Maya Jacobs; Thu Luu; Eden MacMillan; Laura Valades; Paola Valdez;

On International Women’s Day, the Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici was pleased to promote a project that brought new attention to the painter Plautilla Nelli. Within the walls of the convent of Santa Caterina da Siena in Florence, Nelli worked to create her art in new cultural spaces, conquering realms of freedom denied to most women.

A disciple of the artistic traditions of San Marco and painter Fra’ Bartolomeo (1472 –1517), Plautilla Nelli was also a pioneering entrepreneur. She established her own workshop within the convent, involving her fellow sisters in creating works of art.

Serving as the Prioress of the convent three times, she established an art workshop with her fellow sisters, earning mention by Giorgio Vasari in his ‘Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects.’ (Second edition 1568).

According to Vasari, Plautilla Nelli, who many noble families appreciated, painted ”so many artworks for the houses of Florentine gentlemen that it would be too lengthy to discuss them all.”

In Jane Adams’ words, summing up Nelli and her remarkable achievements as a female artist: ‘To quote Jane Fortune, whose mission and love for Nelli I share, “once you get involved with Nelli, once she enters your soul, she’s with you every day.’”

This restoration initiative by the Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici paid tribute to the Florentine Renaissance painter Plautilla Nelli,” stated Alessia Bettini, deputy mayor and cultural affairs councilor of the Municipality of Florence. “It contributes to rectifying artistic justice for an extraordinary figure on the occasion of the quincentenary of her birth, preserving the artistic heritage that binds us to the past and inspiring future generations. It is also a new opportunity to deepen our understanding of the contribution of women in Renaissance art.”

“I am pleased to inaugurate a project that values the activity of the Renaissance painter Plautilla Nelli,” comments Carla Guarducci, President and CEO of the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute. “Little known to many, she is an artist who is important to remember, especially on Women’s Rights Day. Despite entering the convent at a young age, she was able to create, through art and the sharing of artistic knowledge, a creative and, in a sense, liberated space in a world where such freedom was denied to women.”

The project aimed not only to restore Plautilla Nelli’s artwork but also to shed light on her contributions as a female artist during the Renaissance, providing a platform for a more profound understanding of the role of women in art history and to preserve cultural heritage and promote by acknowledging the achievements of women in the arts.