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Female Piety and Food in the Italian Renaissance

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Female Piety and Food in the Italian Renaissance © COPYRIGHT by Caitlin Hoerr 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED For my grandfather, Michael J. Mussomeli, whose trips to Sicily, Rome, and Florence inspired my passionate relationship to Italian food. “THE WORD GAVE HIMSELF AS FOOD:” FEMALE PIETY AND FOOD IN THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE BY Caitlin Hoerr ABSTRACT This project considers the particularly passionate relationship between women and food, in the context of select artworks created for female convents and nunneries. The depiction of food and the act of eating in Renaissance artworks created for female religious institutions takes on powerful symbolic meaning for the viewers, acting as a didactic message about the relationship of the female viewer to Christ’s spiritual and corporeal body. Furthermore, the use of food as a crucial tool for female spirituality offers insight into the ways that women constructed agency within a patriarchal society. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project would not have been possible without the incredible support I received throughout the past few years. First, I would like to thank Kim Butler Wingfield, who has guided me as this project has grown and shifted, given me support and assistance for the past two years, and taught me the joys of being an art historian. I am also grateful to Joanne Allen, Andrea Pearson and Juliet Bellow, who have been instrumental in pushing me to be a better writer and researcher. Kathleen Nolan has provided me with endless opportunities for growth and gave me the courage to pursue art history beyond the safety of Hollins University. I owe an enormous thank you to my parents, for providing me with endless love and support. I am indebted to Brittney Bailey and Danielle Sensabaugh, who have been my partners in crime and emotional support system for the past two years, and have listened to iterations of this paper so often they can probably recite it themselves. And to Maran, who continues to be the best and most supportive person I know. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .......................................................................................................... v INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1 FOR HER TO EAT: FEMALE SPIRITUALITY AND FOOD IN ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO’S LAST SUPPER. .......................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2 FROM SINFUL TO SAINTED: REPENTENCE AND REGULATION IN SANDRO BOTTICELLI’S PALA DELLE CONVERTITE .......................................................... 26 CHAPTER 3 “RETURN TO THE EXAMPLE OF SAINTS:” SAVONAROLA’S CORPOREAL AND SAINTLY BODIES IN PLAUTILLA NELLI’S LAST SUPPER .............. 45 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 61 ILLUSTRATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 62 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................... 64 iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Taddeo Gaddi, Last Supper, Tree of Life, and Four Miracle Scenes, 1360, fresco, Florence, Italy: Santa Croce. ............................................................................................. 62 Figure 2. Andrea del Castagno, Last Supper, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant’ Apollonia ...... 62 Figure 3. Andrea del Castagno, Last Supper, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Entombment, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant’ Apollonia. ........................................................................... 62 Figure 4. Duccio di Buoninsinga, Last Supper: detail of Maesta Altarpiece, 1308-11, tempera on panel, Siena, Italy: Siena Cathedral. ................................................................................. 62 Figure 5. Andrea del Castagno, The Resurrection, Crucifixion, and Burial of Christ, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant Apollonia. ........................................................................................ 62 Figure 6. Paolo Schiavo, Crucifixion, 1438-47, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant Apollonia. ............ 62 Figure 7. Andrea del Castagno, detail of Last Supper, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant’ Apollonia........................................................................................................................... 62 Figure 8. Andrea del Castagno, Saint James the Greater: detail of Last Supper, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant’ Apollonia. ....................................................................................... 62 Figure 9. Andrea del Castagno, detail of Last Supper, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant’ Apollonia........................................................................................................................... 62 Figure 10. Andrea del Castagno, The Crucifixion, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant’ Apollonia. ........................................................................................................................................... 62 Figure 11. Andrea del Castagno, The Entombment, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant’ Apollonia........................................................................................................................... 62 Figure 12. Andrea del Castagno, Entombment, 1447, sinopia underdrawing, Florence Italy: Sant’ Apollonia........................................................................................................................... 62 Figure 13. Andrea del Castagno, Saints Matthew, Phillip, Thomas: detail of Last Supper, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant’ Apollonia. .......................................................................... 62 Figure14. Andrea del Castagno, Judas and Christ: detail of Last Supper, 1447, fresco, Florence, Italy: Sant’ Apollonia. ....................................................................................................... 62 Figure 15. Sandro Botticelli, Pala delle Convertite Reconstruction, originally for Santa Elisabetta delle Convertite, 1490-4, tempera and oil on panel, Florence, Italy. ................................ 62 Figure 16. Sandro Botticelli, Feast in the House of Simon, originally for Santa Elisabetta delle Convertite, 1490-4, tempera and oil on panel, 20 x 43.8 cm, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Museum of Art. ............................................................................................ 63 v Figure 17. Sandro Botticelli, The Last Moment of the Magdalene, originally for Santa Elisabetta delle Convertite, 1490-4, tempera and oil on panel, 20 x 43.8 cm, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Museum of Art. .................................................................... 63 Figure 18. Sandro Botticelli, The Trinity with Saints, originally for Santa Elisabetta delle Convertite, 1490-4, tempera and oil on panel, 215 × 192 cm, London, England: Courtauld Institute of Art. ................................................................................................. 63 Figure 19. Sandro Botticelli, Predella Panel Reconstruction from the Pala delle Convertite, originally for Santa Elisabetta delle Convertite, 1490-4, tempera and oil on panel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Museum of Art. .............................................. 63 Figure 20. Sandro Botticelli, Conversion of the Magdalene, originally for Santa Elisabetta delle Convertite, 1490-4, tempera and oil on panel, 20 x 43.8 cm, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Museum of Art. ............................................................................................ 63 Figure 21. Sandro Botticelli, “Noli me Tangere,” originally for Santa Elisabetta delle Convertite, 1490-4, tempera and oil on panel, 20 x 43.8 cm, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Museum of Art. ................................................................................................................. 63 Figure 22. Donatello, The Penitent Magdalene, 1453-5, wood, Florence, Italy: Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. ........................................................................................................................ 63 Figure 23. Sandro Botticelli, Mystic Crucifixion, 1500, tempera and oil on canvas (transferred from panel), 72.4 x 51.4 cm, Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Art Museums Fogg Museum............................................................................................................................. 63 Fig 24. Sandro Botticelli, Tobias and Raphael, detail of Holy Trinity with Saints, originally for Santa Elisabetta delle Convertite, 1490-4, tempera and oil on panel, London, England: Courtauld Institute of Art. ................................................................................................. 63 Figure 25. Plautilla Nelli, Last Supper, originally for Santa Caterina da Siena, sixteenth century, fresco, Florence, Italy: Santa Maria Novella. ................................................................... 63 Figure 26. Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper, 1494-8, tempera on gesso, Milan, Italy: Santa Maria delle Grazie. .....................................................................................................................
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