Subtitle:
A Renaissance Nun Who Painted Beyond Boundaries
1. A Woman Artist in the Renaissance
During the Renaissance, female painters were few compared to their male counterparts but Plautilla Nelli’s Legacy steel in Florence. Yet, considering that women were not allowed to study anatomy or train in formal workshops, the presence of any female artist is extraordinary. One such remarkable figure was Polissena de’ Nelli (Florence, 1524 – 1588), a Florentine woman who defied the odds.
At the age of just fourteen, she was sent to the Dominican convent of Santa Caterina da Cafaggio in Piazza San Marco, where she took the name Plautilla. Despite living in strict enclosure, she began to paint independently, learning the basics from Sister Maria Cleophea di Lorenzo.
Transitioning into her own style, she studied drawings by notable Dominican artists—especially Fra Bartolomeo, whose works she accessed within the convent. Over time, Plautilla Nelli established her own workshop inside the convent, producing works commissioned by both the Florentine aristocracy and the clergy.
2. Art Behind Closed Doors
Working in cloistered isolation meant Plautilla could not witness the stylistic shift from the Renaissance to Mannerism. Her models were always fellow nuns, as she was not permitted to interact with men or use male models. As a result, some critics of the time described her male figures as somewhat effeminate.
Nevertheless, her ability to reinterpret masculine forms from memory, drawing from existing masterpieces, is nothing short of astonishing. This artistic limitation became her strength, showcasing her visual memory and deep understanding of human anatomy—entirely self-taught.
Plautilla Nelli’s Legacy lives on not just because she painted, but because she created a space for women artists in a male-dominated world.
3. Her Masterpiece: A 7-Meter Last Supper
In a truly unprecedented act for a woman of her time, Plautilla Nelli undertook the monumental task of painting a Last Supper—a genre usually reserved for renowned male artists. Her work, which spans seven meters in length and features life-size figures, is the only known Last Supper created by a female artist in the Renaissance.
Following the 1817 suppression of convents, the painting was moved to the refectory of Santa Maria Novella, where it now hangs across from Alessandro Allori’s Last Supper. Remarkably, she signed her name on the canvas—perhaps to claim her place in history, aware of her unique achievement as a nearly self-taught artist confined within convent walls.
Today, art historians and institutions continue to rediscover and celebrate her contributions. Her work raises the question: what masterpieces could she have created if she had been allowed to study in the major art workshops of Florence?
