Graziella Bozzini

This article proposes various questions on possible characteristics of works of art made specifically for the female branch of the Franciscan Observance. Several peculiarities of the frescoes (some of which are unpublished) in the Santa Maria delle Grazie nunnery – which is known as Santa Clara and was built from the 1470s by reusing and adapting Cistercian structures – are presented...

This article discusses a hitherto unpublished fresco from the Benedictine women’s monastery of Santa Maria Teodote in Pavia. The nunnery, of Lombard origin, was extensively renovated in the last uarter  of the 15th century, as it joined the Cassinese Congregation (Congregation of Santa Giustina in Padua, one of the major 15th century reform movements among Benedictines in Europe). In addition to  other works, including the famous oratory of San Salvatore completely frescoed in the early 16th century, a refectory was built in which an Assumption/Coronation of the Virgin was painted. This latter fresco, which came to light in 2018, shows an iconography that is very similar to paintings created by artists working for the male and female Franciscan Observance in Lombardy. This paper, besides rising the question of the commission of such a fresco, whose location in a refectory is highly atypical, presents comparisons with artistic choices made in other Benedictine women’s monasteries in Pavia and Lombardy during the same period: the nuns of Santa Maria Teodote were probably the commissioners of works characterised by originality and great modernity. Il presente contributo presenta un inedito affresco recentemente portato alla luce nell’ex monastero femminile di Santa Maria Teodote in Pavia. Il convento, di origine longobarda, fu ampiamente ristrutturato nell’ultimo quarto del XV secolo, quando entrò a far parte della Congregazione Cassinese (Congregazione di Santa Giustina in Padova, sorta in seno ad uno dei maggiori movimenti quattrocenteschi della riforma benedettina in Europa). Accanto ad altre opere – tra cui il famoso oratorio di San Salvatore completamente affrescato all’inizio del XVI secolo – fu costruito un refettorio in cui venne dipinta un’Assunzione/Incoronazione della Vergine. Quest’ultimo affresco, riemerso nel 2018, mostra un’iconografia molto simile a quella dei dipinti realizzati da artisti operanti per l’Osservanza francescana maschile e femminile in Lombardia. Il presente lavoro, oltre a sollevare la questione della commissione di tale affresco, la cui collocazione in un refettorio è altamente atipica, presenta confronti con scelte artistiche effettuate in altri monasteri benedettini femminili pavesi e lombardi nel medesimo torno d’anni: le monache di Santa Maria Teodote furono probabilmente committenti di opere caratterizzate da profonda originalità e riferimenti alla ‘moda’.