Women, Art and Observant Franciscan Piety

$63.99

Taxes may apply at checkout.

Women, Art and Observant Franciscan Piety

Caterina Vigri and the Poor Clares in Early Modern Ferrara

Individual artists, art monographs Religious and ceremonial art Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church

Author: Kathleen Giles Arthur

Dinosaur mascot

Collection: Visual and Material Culture, 1300-1700

Language: English

Published by: Routledge

Published on: 1st October 2025

Format: LCP-protected ePub

ISBN: 9781040796443


About Caterina Vigri

Caterina Vigri (later Saint Catherine of Bologna) was a mystic, writer, teacher and nun-artist. Her first home, Corpus Domini, Ferrara, was a house of semi-religious women that became a Poor Clare convent and model of Franciscan Observant piety.

Vigri's Artistic Contributions

Vigri's intensely spiritual decoration of her breviary, as well as convent altarpieces that formed a visual program of adoration for the Body of Christ, exemplify the Franciscan Observant visual culture.

Transformation of Corpus Domini

After Vigri's departure, it was transformed by d'Este women patrons, including Isabella da Aragona, Isabella d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia. While still preserving Observant ideals, it became a more elite noblewomen's retreat.

Research and Focus

Grounded in archival research and extant paintings, drawings, prints and art objects from Corpus Domini, this volume explores the art, visual culture, and social history of an early modern Franciscan women's community.

Show moreShow less