Women, Art, and Spirituality

Women, Art, and Spirituality: The Poor Clares of Early Modern Italy situates the art made between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries for the Franciscan nuns in its historical and religious contexts. Evaluating its production from sociological and intellectual perspectives, this study also addresses the discourse between spirituality, devotional practices, and aesthetic attitudes as formalized in the construction and decoration of the women's convents and in their didactic literature. Based on a range of sources, it integrates important primary texts, such as Saint Clare's rule, poetry composed by the nuns, financial records, and family history in analysis of paintings, sculpture, and architecture commissioned by the order. Also synthesized in this ground-breaking study are recent theoretical developments in anthropology, women's studies, history, and literature with traditional iconographical and social approaches of art history.